More Than Friends
by Broadwaylover4life
Summary: J.J and Emily had been friends for over five years. To each other, they were just friends. But to others? Well, let's just say people had money on how long it would take for them to become more than friends. My take on how Jemily could happen. No Henry. Very AU. Contains an abusive Will. Don't read if you don't like Jemily.
1. Rooms

A/N: Hey guys, so I know I shouldn't be posting another story with 3 still on the go, but I have recently gotten in to watching Criminal Minds, and even though there is no hope for it to happen, I can't help but want Emily and J.J. together. Honestly, I now ship Jemily a great deal, and this is my take on how they would get together. Very AU. Anything that Reid says, I hold no proof for, it is completely out of my own head. It may be true, it may not be. Obviously, I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO CRIMINAL MINDS. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTFUL OWNERS. If I did own Criminal Minds, J.J. and Emily would be together, and Will would not exist. Please read and review! Oh, and as a side note, Henry doesn't exist, but Will does and is married to J.J. Set after Emily's return in the seventh season. Enjoy!

"So guys, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Aaron Hotchner told his team on a warm July evening in Seattle, Washington. The whole team was in town for a big government conference. Why the government wasn't having their conference in the nation's capital, it was beyond any of them, but it did make for a nice change in scenery. And it was nice to be out of town for other reasons besides a case.

"Who's dead?" Garcia asked, sitting up straighter in her seat. J.J raised an eyebrow.

"The real question is who's stupid enough to commit a crime with half of the government in the city?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

"You'd actually be surprised J.J. About half of all crime happens with government personnel close by." Reid said matter-of-factly, causing Emily to look at Garcia next to her.

"Is that true?" the brunette asked the very colourful woman. Garcia shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't know what Reid is talking about half of the time." She whispered back. Morgan cleared his throat.

"Anyways, what's the bad news Hotch?" he asked the man standing in front of the rest of the team.

"Well, it's not a murder." Hotch started, smiling at his team's lack of concentration.

"Oh thank god." Garcia muttered under her breath, causing Emily to laugh quietly to herself.

"It appears that there is a shortage of rooms." The team leader told the other six FBI agents. Morgan looked at Reid, then back at Hotch.

"How short?" he asked. Hotchner looked at the ground, and then back up at his team that was currently sitting around a coffee table in the lobby of the hotel.

"Our team has been assigned three rooms." The man told his 'family'. They all looked at each other, silently pairing up for sleeping arrangements for the next five days.

"Are they single beds?" Rossi asked nervously. He would sleep on the couch before he shared a bed with any of his team members.

"Luckily no, they all have two beds. Since there's seven of us we're going to have to triple in one room." Hotch explained, taking a moment for the rest of the team to catch up to speed. "So I was thinking J.J, Prentiss and Garcia could room together, and then Reid and Morgan, and then..." he continued but was cut off.

"Oh no. I am not sleeping with Reid." Morgan interrupted, moving away from the genius who was sitting on the couch next to him. Garcia grinned, standing up and running to stand behind Morgan.

"Dibs!" she exclaimed, causing Emily and J.J. to laugh.

"Nice to know that Morgan ranks higher than us, huh Em?" J.J. asked, rolling her eyes and nudging her best friend in the arm. Prentiss laughed as Garcia stuck her tongue out at the women across from her.

"Well then where am I going to sleep?" Reid asked, looking at the two agents making googly eyes at each other.

"You can bunk with us Reid. We'll even give you your own bed." Emily offered, looking at the blonde woman next to her. J.J. nodded. She didn't mind sharing a bed with her best friend.

"Alright, then it's settled. Reid with the girls, Rossi with me, and then Morgan and Garcia." Hotch finalized, looking at the team. They all nodded. Hotch passed out key cards to Morgan and J.J. "Well then I guess we'll see you bright and early in the morning. 6:30 sharp." He said, accompanied by many moans from the team.

"Why do we have to get up at the crack of freaking dawn? We're not even on a case this time." Garcia whined, grabbing her bright pink suitcase in one hand and taking hold of Morgan's hand in the other.

"See you two in the morning." J.J. called after the two FBI agents who were heading to the elevator. Garcia turned around and grinned, causing the others to laugh.

"Why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret that decision in the morning?" Hotch asked to the women on the couch. Emily smiled.

"Oh, if I were you, I'd just hope your room isn't next to theirs. Otherwise 6:30 is going to **really** hurt." She said as J.J. stifled a laugh. Reid looked at the women quizzically as Hotch and Rossi fetched their suitcases.

"See you ladies in the morning. Night Reid." Rossi said as he walked towards the elevator, Hotch passing a key card to him.

"Good night Hotch. Night Rossi." Emily and J.J. said at the same time. The men waved as they stepped in to the elevator.

"Okay, what is it Reid? You look confused, and it's starting to scare me." Emily asked, looking at the very confused man in front of her.

"What did you mean when you told Hotch that he should hope his room isn't next to Garcia's?" he asked the woman. J.J. frowned.

"Aw...it's so cute how he's so clueless." J.J. whined to Emily. Reid looked at the women quizzically again.

"You still didn't answer me." Reid said, now getting annoyed. He wanted to know what they were talking about. Emily sighed to herself.

"Okay, well Reid. When two people have feelings for each other, they..." Emily started as J.J. laughed. Reid held up his hand.

"I get it. Please, no more." He stopped the woman as he stood up to grab his suitcase. J.J. held out her hand and high fived Emily. That had to be the best response to one of Reid's questions she had heard in a long time. "You know, I saw that." Reid said, passing the women their suitcases.

"I don't know what you're talking about Doctor Reid." J.J said innocently, batting her eyes as she walked towards the elevators, closely followed by Emily.

A/N: Okay, I know that's really short, but it's just an introduction. The next chapter will be much longer. If anyone has ideas for a case that they can cover, please feel free to comment or PM me. I promise I'll have another chapter up by Friday!


	2. Caught In The Rain

A/N: Thanks for all the love guys! I didn't expect this many follows and favourites so quickly! This chapter will have the beginning of some Jemily feelings, but most likely only one sided, for now at least. So, this is probably the last chapter of the team in Seattle, and I have an idea for a case that will bring the two lovely ladies together. For those of you questioning room assignments, I felt as if Reid should be the person to notice the 'Jemily' feelings, which is why I put him with the girls. As well, I felt that Garcia would jump at the chance to room with Morgan. So, please review. It makes me work faster, and it makes me happy too! If you have any ideas, feel free to comment or PM me! And like I said before, I DON'T OWN THE RIGHTS TO CRIMINAL MINDS. JUST A BORED WRITER USING THE CHARACTERS FOR PURE LOVE OF THE SHOW. Enjoy!

"Tell me again why you agreed to let Reid sleep with us?" J.J. whispered to her best friend as they rode the elevator up to their room on the sixth floor.

"You do know how dirty that sounded, don't you?" Emily asked the blonde woman, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Reid wasn't listening. Luckily, he hadn't heard them. Or at least he didn't show it.

"Oh, shut up Prentiss. You know what I meant. I mean don't get me wrong, the boy is a great friend and everything, but he's kind of annoying, isn't he?" J.J whispered back, nudging her taller friend in the arm.

"Aw, but Reid's so sweet. Just let him stay with us, please Jayje?" Emily begged quietly. The blonde woman sighed as the elevator stopped.

"Fine. But I am not sleeping in the same bed as him." She admitted in defeat. Reid smiled at the women in front of him. At how clueless they really were that they thought he hadn't heard everything they were talking about.

The three FBI agents stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway to room 6E. J.J. pulled the key card out of her pocket and slid it through the slot in the door handle. When they walked inside the room, they surprised at what they saw.

The room contained one queen bed, a couch that looked like it pulled out, and a small television. A single, light blue chair sat in the corner of the room by the balcony door. J.J. looked at Reid and then at Emily.

"And what are we supposed to do now, oh wise one?" she asked the tall raven haired beauty. Emily frowned for a moment.

"Okay...well J.J. doesn't want to sleep with Reid, for whatever reason...so I guess she can take the couch and Reid can bunk with me." Emily explained. Reid shook his head.

"No, let J.J take the bed. I can sleep on the couch." He told the women. J.J. smiled.

"Aw Reid, that's sweet. But I can take the couch. I know you heard what we were talking about in the elevator." The woman told her friend. Reid shook his head.

"No, I insist you take the bed with Emily. I'll be fine on the couch." He argued with the woman. Emily stood up from her seat on the end of the bed and stood between the two arguing agents.

"Children, if you do not figure this out, I will personally talk to Hotch and have him make you room with Garcia and Morgan. I don't care who sleeps in the bed with me. Just figure it out." She warned. J.J.'s eyes grew wide as she looked at the annoyed profiler.

"You wouldn't." J.J. said in a low voice. Emily's eyes dared her to question it again.

"I think she would J.J." Reid whispered in the blonde's ear. The two profilers sighed in defeat.

"I'll take the bed with Emily. You can have the couch." J.J told the boy. Reid smiled victoriously, and it took all J.J. had not to go over there and smack the boy on the back of the head.

"Thank you for figuring it out you two. So, it's only seven thirty...want to go and do something?" Emily asked. J.J. nodded as Reid shook his head.

"You two can go out. I'm just going to stay here and read." The boy told his friends. The women looked at each other.

"Okay then. Let's just go get ready and then we can head out." J.J. said, grabbing her suitcase and setting it down on the bed next to Emily's black one. Reid sat down on the couch and pulled out a stack of three books that should last him the evening.

"What should I wear?" J.J. asked. Emily shrugged.

"I don't know. Where do you want to go?" she asked the shorter blonde.

"I don't know...I don't really feel like clubbing tonight. What if we go down to the water? Walk along the beach and find a cafe?" J.J. asked. Emily smiled.

"Sounds great J.J. Want to see if Garcia wants to come with us?" she asked the blonde woman. J.J. made a face.

"Do you really want to walk into that room?" she asked her best friend. Emily grimaced.

"Dear god no. I think I'm good with just the two of us." She said as she unzipped her suitcase.

Ten minutes later, Emily and J.J were standing in front of the bathroom mirror, running brushes through their hair and putting on small amounts of make-up. A thought popped into J.J's head as Emily started to braid her best friend's hair into two French braids.

"Hey Reid?" J.J. called. The women heard rustling in the other room.

"Yeah Jayje?" He asked, not wanting to get up from his seat.

"Can you come here for a moment?" the blonde called to the boy in the other room. Emily cleared her throat as she started on the second braid.

"Umm...Jayje, you do realize we're standing here in our bras right?" she asked as she looked down at herself, standing in only in an older pair of jeans and a light blue bra. J.J. shook her head.

"He'll be fine." She said, looking at her own reflection in the mirror. The shorter woman was standing in front of the mirror in a pair of matching red underwear and bra. She hadn't decided on what to wear, so she figured that this was fine for now. Reid had seen women naked before.

In the other room, Reid sighed and set his book down on the bed, silently marking the page in his head. What was so important that J.J. couldn't walk out of the bathroom and talk to him.

"What is it J.J?" Reid asked as he walked towards the bathroom door. He did not expect to find the women in their bras. When he took in the sight in front of him, he promptly turned his back to the half naked women. Emily laughed at the boy as she finished J.J's hair, pulling on a light grey hoodie over her head.

"Oh Reid, you're so cute. You act like you've never seen a woman in her bra before." J.J. said, pushing past the boy and walking to her suitcase where she pulled out the only pair of jeans she had packed, pulling them up over her toned legs. Reid was now facing Emily who was still in the bathroom, not wanting to look at J.J.

"I have seen women in bras before. I just don't care to see you in one." He told the blonde woman. Emily smiled at the boy.

"You'll be fine, honey. And you know what, I forgot what I wanted. Oh yeah, which shirt?" J.J. asked, holding up a light pink blouse in one hand, and a dark blue one in the other. Reid slowly turned around and looked at the two blouses in the woman's hands. He took a moment looking at the shirts, trying to avoid the blonde in the bright red fabric.

"Go with the blue one." Reid finally decided, turning around again as Emily poked her head out of the bathroom.

"I agree. Go with the blue. It looks good with your blonde hair." She told her best friend. J.J. nodded, pulling the dark blue blouse over her shoulders and buttoning it up. She picked up her wallet off of the bed and stuffed thirty dollars of cash into her jean pocket, pulling on the only pair of non-heels she had brought. Emily walked out of the bathroom in old white and blue running shoes, grabbed her wallet, and stuck money her pocket like J.J.

"Ready to head out Jayje?" she asked the blonde woman. J.J. nodded, sticking her phone in her back pocket as she followed her best friend out the door.

About an hour and a half later, the two FBI agents were slowly walking back up the beach towards their hotel. The two women had found a cute little cafe about half a mile down the beach, and decided to pop in and have a coffee and dessert.

Now they were walking back up the beach as the sun finally set beyond the ocean, casting the beach in a light pink glow. The friends made small talk as they drank their coffees, talking about little things like what they wanted to do on their next vacation week, what their parents were up to, what was bugging them.

When the first raindrop fell on Emily's hand, she didn't think much of it. It was Seattle, it rained often. When the second raindrop fell on J.J's cheek, she smiled. When the third and fourth and fifth fell, the friends looked at each other.

"We should probably hurry up, if we don't want to get poured on." Emily said to the blonde woman. J.J. shrugged her shoulders.

"It's just a little rain. It's not going to hurt us." She said as they continued down the vacant beach. They were still about ten minutes from the hotel. As she said this, it was like someone cut a hole in the sky. Rain fell down in sheets as the two friends, who had only been standing in the rain for a few seconds, looked at each other silently thinking the same thing.

They both took off at a run down the beach, Emily pulling ahead of J.J, leaving the blonde about 20 feet behind her.

When Emily got back to the hotel, she didn't think it was possible to be any wetter than she was. Her previously straight hair stuck to her neck and the side of her face. Her hoodie weighed about five pounds, her jeans even more, and her shoes squished when she walked. Rossi walked passed her with a pillow in his hand and did a double take.

"Prentiss, what happened to you?" he asked his friend. Emily smiled and pushed her hair back from the sides of her face.

"Oh, J.J and I decided to go for a walk on the beach...and we kind of got stuck in the rain. What's with the pillow? Planning a pillow fight with Hotch?" Emily asked with a sly grin. Rossi laughed at the wet woman.

"No, just needed an extra pillow. Where is J.J?" he asked his friend, not seeing the blonde. Emily's eyebrows rose. "Did you lose her Prentiss?" Rossi asked in a mocking tone.

"I didn't lose her...she's just not as fast as me." Emily said, now looking for her blonde friend. Rossi nodded, saying his goodbyes and heading back towards the elevators. Just as the doors closed in front of Rossi, J.J. walked into the lobby, even wetter than Emily.

"You...officially...suck" J.J panted, trying to catch her breath and ring out her now see through blouse without taking it off.

"And you officially can't breathe. And just so you know, don't where a red bra in the rain." Emily teased. J.J, who had now caught her breath, glared at her raven haired friend.

"You, my friend, are going to pay for that." She threatened, seconds before she pulled the tall girl in to a bone crushing hug. Emily grunted as her insides were pushed together and even more water was added to her clothes.

"Feel better?" Emily asked the blonde as she let go. J.J. smiled triumphantly. "Good. Now let's get up to the room and get out of these wet clothes. We have to be up at five tomorrow." Emily said as she pulled her best friend towards the elevators.

When the girls walked in the room, they found Reid in the same spot they had left him almost two hours ago. He looked at them when they entered and smiled.

"You look a little wet." The man said as the women walked in to the bathroom to change out of their wet clothes.

"Yeah, we kind of got caught in the rain." J.J. said, poking her head out around the door as Emily took her clothes off and stepped into the shower. J.J. stripped out of her wet clothes, placing them on the edge of the counter to dry and pulled on a pair of short shorts and an over sized t-shirt. She brushed her teeth as Emily stepped into her own pyjamas. When J.J. finally walked out of the bathroom, she found Reid already in his pyjamas, sitting on the couch.

"Here Reid, I'll help you pull the couch out." She told the man as he got up and removed the cushions. On her counts, the two agents pulled the couch out and placed one of the many pillows from the bed on the mattress and the quilt that sat on top.

"Thanks Jayje." Reid told his friend as he put his books on the coffee table and laid down on the couch.

"No, thank you for letting me sleep in the bed Spence." J.J. said as she crawled up into the big queen bed, waiting for Emily to join her before she shut off the light.

The two agents lay in silence for a moment, until a bang echoed from the bathroom. They were both up in a flash and at the door to the bathroom.

"You okay in there Em?"J.J. called through the door. They heard a sigh.

"Yeah, I just dropped my phone. On my foot too." Emily said as she opened the door. Reid and J.J. weren't expecting the raven haired beauty to emerge so quickly, and Emily walked right in to the blonde woman.

They toppled backwards on to the floor in a heap of tangled limbs, laughing at each other. They remained that way for a while, laughing at each other until their sides hurt. They weren't really sure why it was so funny, but it was most likely due to their lack of sleep.

When the women stopped laughing, they lay there for a moment, Emily starring into J.J's bright blue eyes. When J.J. reached up to push a piece of hair out of Emily's face, the dark haired woman couldn't help but be surprised at how warm her friend's touch felt; how comforting.

Reid cleared his throat from the other side of the room. The girls on the floor scrambled to get up, walking over to the bed. Emily crawled in to the side farthest from the hotel room door; she knew J.J. liked to be by it.

The blonde woman flicked the lamp off and crawled up into the bed next to her friend, pulling the covers over the both of them.

"Goodnight Reid. "The women said at the same time, giggling quietly to themselves.

"Night Emily. Night Jayje." Reid told the women in the bed across from him. He rolled over and attempted to close his eyes, but sleep did not to come to him. He was thoroughly puzzled as to what had just happened between the women on the hotel floor. Sure, it seemed innocent, but it lasted a lot longer than a friendly look would have. Deciding to ask Garcia about it sometime in the near future, he rolled over again as his eyes slowly closed.

A/N: So there's the next chapter. I'm not sure if I like how it played out...but I felt like we needed a small moment thrown in there to help Reid question it. I'm on break from school until Monday, so I will try to get chapter 3 up for Sunday. After that I might be a bit longer between postings. Hope you liked it! Feel free to send me suggestions. Please review!


	3. Flowers

A/N: Thanks for all the love you guys! I had no idea when I started this that it would get so many reviews and follows. So, I have an idea for a case that will bring Emily and Jennifer closer together. I know that there are similar stories like this on here, but I will be taking it a different way than the others. So, here's chapter 3. Please read and review! And just to clear things up, I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO CRIMINAL MINDS. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTFUL OWNERS. Enjoy!

A week and a half later, Emily, Garcia and J.J. were sitting at headquarters, trying to work through their large stack of paperwork. They hadn't had a case since before they went to Seattle for the conference. It was a good thing, because no one was dead, but at the same time, the women were drowning in paperwork and were perpetually bored.

"So ladies, boy wonder and I were having a very interesting conversation the other day." Garcia said, tossing a rubber band ball back and forth between her hands. J.J. glanced up at the colourful woman, trying to concentrate on her papers.

"Really? What was it about?" she asked, placing her finished papers on the too small pile of completed work. Garcia smiled.

"Well, it seems that the genius noticed something going on between the two of you the first night we were in Seattle." She explained, a sly smile on her lips.

"Really, and what was that?" Emily asked her friend, not even looking up from her paper work. Butterflies were beginning to form in the pit of her stomach. The woman knew exactly what Reid had talked to Garcia about. She wasn't sure exactly what had happened between her and her best friend, but she hadn't stopped thinking about it. How warm J.J's touch was, how Emily's face tingled in the spot after she touched her. How beautiful J.J. looked when she laughed.

Emily shook her head, trying to clear her mind of these thoughts. Jennifer was her best friend, nothing more. And, to top it off, J.J. was married to possibly the nicest man she had ever met. Well, outside of Quantico that was.

"Well, it seems that you two had a bit of a 'moment' that first night" Garcia said, using her hands to air quote the word moment. J.J shut the folder she had in front of her and looked between Emily and Garcia.

"What are you talking about Pen?" the blonde asked the technology wizard. Emily's head remained cast towards her desk, although she wasn't really reading the file in front of her.

"Reid told me what happened after Emily walked out of the bathroom...and it ended with you two on the floor." Garcia said with look of mischief in her eyes. J.J laughed, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear.

"Oh please. She just fell on me. Nothing happened Garcia. Right Em?" J.J. asked the raven haired woman who was attempting to keep herself busy. Emily looked up at J.J. and nodded.

"Yeah Garcia, nothing happened." She told the other blonde woman. Garcia simply smirked and continued to toss the ball back and forth between her hands.

"Okay, if you say so." She said slyly as Derek came running towards them. Garcia put the ball down on the edge of Reid's desk that J.J was sitting at. "What is it, my knight in shining armour?" she asked as the man walked towards them.

"Ooh, that's a new one." Emily whispered to J.J. The blonde woman smiled as she put her now finished folder on the too small stack.

"Hotch needs the team in the conference room stat. We've got a case. You too baby girl." Morgan told the women. They got up from their desks and followed the agent into the conference room. Garcia took a seat between Morgan and Reid, Emily and J.J. next to Rossi.

"Okay, now that we're all here, we have a, sensitive, case. Reid?" Hotch started, handing the floor over to Reid.

"Raleigh, North Carolina. Six murders in the last month. It seems that our unsub has been attacking same sex couples. In particular, lesbian couples. All of the victims have been found at dumpsites along the edge of the city. They were all found with severe bruising around their wrists showing bondage was used; deep cuts across their backs and chests, and all but the last two victims were sexually assaulted. None of the cuts were fatal however; it appears that they died of dehydration, showing that they were held captive for at least a few days." Reid explained, passing out folders to everyone. Emily opened the cover and winced. No matter how long she worked at this job, looking at the pictures of the victims never got easier.

"And you believe that this is the doing of the same unsub?" Rossi asked. Reid nodded.

"Yes, we have reason to believe that there is only one." He answered. The team nodded, skimming through the folders provided. Strauss entered the room then, a grim look on her face.

"Have you told them yet, Hotchner?" she asked the man who had stood up from his seat when she entered.

"No, I was just about to get to that part. The agency has decided that it would be best if we send two agents undercover to North Carolina to lure the unsub in." Hotch explained. The FBI agents looked at each other.

"Send agents in...as in send them in as a couple?" Morgan asked, looking between Emily, Garcia and J.J.

"That is correct, agent Morgan." Strauss said, her face showing no emotion.

"Who...who were you thinking of sending in?" Garcia asked, sneaking a glance at her friends across the table. Emily looked incredibly pale against her dark hair, and Garcia couldn't help but snicker under her breath.

"Agents..."Strauss started, but was cut off by Hotch.

"Perhaps, Agent Strauss, you would allow me the privilege of telling my team in private?" he asked his boss. With a stiff glare, Strauss nodded and left the room.

"Now that she's gone, here's the deal. The agency wants to send in…they want to send in Prentiss and J.J." Hotch explained, looking at the two friends sitting next to each other. They had both gone incredibly pale. Garcia and Rossi couldn't help but hide the shock on their faces.

"Let me get this straight. You want Emily and I to go to Raleigh and pretend to be a couple, in order to catch our unsub?" J.J. asked, looking at the man who stood in front of her. Hotch nodded.

"That is correct. We think that it will be the easiest way to catch our unsub. His victims all appear to be in their mid to late thirties, and he always kills the couple, not just one of them. The couples all fit your characteristics as well; one with light blonde hair, one with dark brown hair." He explained to the women. All they could do was nod. Garcia raised her hand, unsure of whether or not to just speak out.

"Yes Garcia?" Hotch asked the colorful blonde.

"How do you plan on making them to appear as a couple, sir?" she asked. Reid stood up from his seat and began riffling through his papers.

"That was the next part. We don't want to let our unsub know that you two are FBI agents, so we are going, with Garcia's help, to create fake identities for the two of you. A house has already been acquired, along with a house for Morgan and Garcia. They will be joining you in Raleigh, to help keep an eye on the situation." Reid explained. Garcia nodded, standing up.

"I'll get on the identities right now. Any requests?" she asked Hotch. He shook his head.

"Not really. They can keep their first names, but I would like you to change J.J.'s last name to Prentiss. Preferably jobs that can be done from in the home, so our unsub isn't suspicious of their careers. Other than that, have fun." He told the woman. Garcia nodded her head once more, and then quickly left the room to go to her office.

"J.J, you are okay with taking the name Prentiss, aren't you?" Hotch asked, looking at the blonde woman. She nodded, looking at her friend next to her. Emily still hadn't said a word.

"As long as it's changed back after this case, I'm fine with it." J.J told the man.

"Okay. Now, if you don't mind, I need to have a word with J.J. and Emily. Morgan, can you tell Garcia to video call us in here in ten minutes, please?" Hotch asked. Morgan nodded, and followed Rossi and Reid out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him.

"Alright ladies, now that we're alone, how do you feel about all of this? I know it's a lot to take in in a small amount of time." Hotch asked the women, sitting down at the table across from them. Emily sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I…I guess I'm okay with it. I'm just worried about being able to keep up the lie." She told her boss. He nodded.

"And you J.J? What do you think about this?" Hotch asked the blonde. J.J smiled.

"I'm okay with it. Do you want us to pretend to be married as well? I'd like to know the details of our relationship." J.J. asked him. Garcia's face popped up on the monitor at the front of the room.

"You called, your majesty?" she asked. Emily and J.J. smiled at their friend. Hotch even cracked a small smile.

"Garcia, I've got Emily and J.J with me in here. We have some details we need to go over." Hotch explained. Garcia nodded, ready to type a list of what to include.

"I would like you to hide any information that you can find about them online. That includes bank statements, credit cards, graduations, anything. I would like for them to be legally married in a state that allows gay marriage, and they need to have a background of how they met. University, maybe, but do whatever you think sounds right. We need this information ready for tomorrow. They need time to learn it before we leave for Raleigh. As well, create identities for yourself and Morgan. Reid, Rossi and I will be working with the local police, so there is no need for identities for us. Wheels up in four days." Hotch said as Garcia logged off and the screen went black. Hotch turned to the two women at the table.

"As for you two, I suggest you take the rest of the day off and get to know each other. Go shopping, something. I also suggest that you move in together as soon as possible, so that you're comfortable with each other. This case could take anywhere from a week to a month to complete, so make any necessary arrangements with your life here. Like I told Garcia, wheels up in four days." He explained, gathering his files and walking out of the room.

Emily and J.J sat in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say to each other. What was one supposed to say after learning that they would have to pretend to be romantically involved with their best friend?

"I guess we should go take the day off." Emily said, gathering up her papers off the desk.

"Alright. Meet me in my office in twenty?" J.J. asked. Emily nodded with a smile, following the blonde from the room.

Twenty minutes later, Emily was standing in the door way to J.J's office, waiting for J.J to get her bags together. Morgan appeared behind the raven haired woman, tapping her on the shoulder and making her jump.

"Well someone's a little jumpy today. How you feeling, Em?" Morgan asked his friend.

"I'm doing alright I guess. Just waiting for Jayje, and trying to figure out how I'm going to pretend to be married to my best friend." Emily explained as the blonde stepped out of her office, pulling the door shut.

"We'll figure something out Em." J.J. told her friend wrapping an arm around her waist. Emily smiled as they said their goodbyes to Morgan walking out the doors and to their separate cars. They agreed to meet at a little restaurant downtown in an hour for lunch, and then went their separate ways.

Instead of heading straight to the restaurant after going home though, J.J. decided to make a slight detour. With a smile, she pulled her black SUV into the parking lot of the florist's.

"Hi, can I help you mam?" the boy, who had to be no more than twenty, asked her from behind the desk.

"Yes, actually. I need a bouquet of flowers for my friend. We're going out our first date tonight and I want to surprise her." J.J. explained. The boy nodded.

"Okay, well we have a ton of great selections. Did you have anything in mind?" he asked the blonde woman. J.J thought about it for a minute.

"Uh…I think I'll go with a bouquet of white roses please." She told the boy. He nodded, going in to the back of the store.

Twenty minutes later, Emily was sitting at a table at the back of the restaurant , sipping a glass of white wine and waiting for her date to arrive.

She checked her watch, seeing that she still had five minutes. Looking at her menu to try and pass the time, Emily felt someone tap her on the shoulder.

"Is this seat taken?" the voice asked. Emily smiled. She knew that voice from anywhere. She looked up to see J.J. standing behind her, a small bouquet of white roses in her hand.

"These are you for you." The blonde said, passing the bouquet to her date. Emily took them with a large smile as J.J. sat down. Somehow, Emily knew that they were going to be okay.

A/N: There's the chapter guys. Thanks for reading! I'll try to post as soon as I can. Just to clear things up, J.J is married to Will, but there is no Henry. Please review!


	4. Rings

A/N: Here's chapter 4. Please read and review. I DON'T OWN THE RIGHTS TO CRIMINAL MINDS. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTFUL OWNERS. If I did own it, Emily would still be on the show, and J.J would be married to her, not Will. Enjoy!

"So you really do like the flowers?" J.J asked Emily as their meals came to the table. The blonde woman had ordered a turkey sandwich, the dark haired woman pasta salad.

"Yes Jayje, they're beautiful. I just feel bad that I didn't get you anything." Emily told her friend, taking a bite of her pasta salad.

"Oh don't feel bad. I wasn't going to, but I was driving past and I felt like it was a good idea." J.J told the woman. Emily smiled. They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying each other's company and their lunches.

"So, how's Sergio? I haven't seen the little man in a while." J.J asked Emily. Emily smiled.

"He's good. Little bugger hasn't been very cuddly lately." She told the former FBI media liaison. J.J laughed at Emily's cat problems. "What's so funny?" Emily asked.

"You sound like a crazy cat lady Em." J.J giggled as Emily reached across the table and swatted the back of her arm. "Hey! What was that for?" the blonde asked, pretending to pout. Emily just rolled her eyes, smiling.

"I am not a crazy cat lady, Jareau. I have one cat, not seven." She told her date, laughing as J.J stuck her tongue out. They finished their lunches peacefully, talking about random things. No one wanted to talk about their upcoming case. It wasn't the place to open that door.

When the cheque came to the table, Emily glared at J.J as she began to pull her wallet from her purse. "Not so fast, Jareau. You bought me flowers, the least I can do is pay for lunch." Emily threatened, placing her debit card in the little folder. The blonde sighed in defeat, placing her wallet back in her purse. There was no point in arguing with her. Not if J.J wanted to live to see tomorrow.

Walking out of the restaurant in to the hot early August day, the friends decided to leave their cars where they were and go for a walk in the park around the block. J.J snaked her arm around Emily's waist, Emily wrapping her arm around the blonde's shoulders as they walked down the street.

"You know Emily, if I had to pretend to be married to anyone, I would pick you in a heartbeat." J.J said as they walked into the park, looking at the taller woman to her right. Emily looked down and smiled, her heart beating extremely quickly. She couldn't help but notice the way J.J's blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight, and how her blonde hair seemed to glow when light hit it in the right way.

Emily had to shake her head for the second time that day to clear it of those feelings. They were to be fake married. That was it. When the case was all over and their unsub was in jail, J.J would return back to D.C and Will, and Emily would return home to her empty apartment and Sergio. That was how things worked in the past, and that was how it was always going to work.

"Well that's very sweet J.J. You want to sit here and talk? We've got a lot to talk about." Emily asked her blonde co-worker, stopping by a large shady tree. J.J nodded, letting go of Emily's waist and sitting down on the grass up against the tree. Emily joined her on the grass, J.J resting her head on her shoulder.

They sat there in silence for a moment, not sure of what to say. The women just watched the people come and go; the joggers, the dog walkers, the children playing on the playground, the parents with babies in strollers. It was refreshing to see people so happy and alive, and well, not dead or bleeding.

"I'm...I'm not really sure where to start here Jayje." Emily whispered, resting her head on top of J.J's. The blonde woman lifted her head up, looking Emily in the eyes.

"Alright then I'll start. I am honestly okay with this...what about you? Are you okay with this? Being married to me I mean?" J.J asked the woman leaning up against her. Emily's throat suddenly went very dry.

"Well...the thing is...I'm not..." Emily mumbled, trying to clear her throat. She moved away from the blonde and shut her eyes tightly for a moment, taking a breath and trying to focus her head. _'Actual words Prentiss'_ she told herself. She opened her eyes to find J.J starring patiently at her, waiting for her to talk.

"I'm okay with it Jayje. Like I said before, I'm just worried about keeping up the lie." Emily told the blonde truthfully. To be frank, she was more than okay with it.

"Okay, if you're sure. What are we doing about house arrangements? I don't think Will will be very happy about this." J.J. asked, her eyes filling with a fear that Emily had never seen before. The brunette rested her head on J.J's shoulder, pulling her in close.

"Jayje, is something going on with you and Will? You hardly ever talk about him anymore, and just now you looked like he was going to hit you or something for pretending to be married to me for this case." Emily whispered. J.J let out a slight chuckle.

"Nothing's going on Em. We're fine. I'm just worried about this case. It's not like the others we've been on." She told the brunette. Deep in her stomach, J.J could sense a sick feeling fighting to break free. She didn't like blatantly lying to Emily, but she couldn't tell her. She couldn't tell anyone. He said he would hurt her even more than he already did if she told.

With a loud sigh, J.J pushed the feeling away. Now was not the time to worry about that. Right now she needed to figure out was going on with this case.

"Okay, then you'll move in with me. How's tomorrow after work sound?" Emily asked the blonde woman. J.J thought about it for a second. It was just enough time to figure out how she was going to tell Will, and then hide whatever marks were left by him. She nodded.

"Then it's settled. You move in with me. I'll get Morgan and Garcia to help us move your stuff." Emily told the blonde, resting her hand atop of J.J's. Emily fiddled with J.J's engagement ring and wedding band.

"What do we do about the whole marriage thing?" she asked her friend. J.J sighed, looking down at Emily's hand playing with her rings. She wasn't exactly sure where to go from here.

"Well, we can start by getting rid of this." J.J said, removing the brunette's hand from hers. With some difficulty, she slid the rings off her swollen fingers and stuck them in her pocket. Emily looked at the blonde woman, shocked.

"Why are you taking them off? You have to pretend to be married to me, you may as well keep them. Actually, you know what, never mind." Emily said, an idea popping into her head. J.J looked at the woman next to her and raised an eyebrow. She thought she was used to following Emily's train of thought. Apparently not so much anymore.

"Okay then. I'll just put them back on later, but not until we head to North Carolina." J.J said as Emily rested her head on her shoulder. J.J didn't want to admit it, but it felt nice to have the feeling of her friend's head on her shoulder. It was almost comforting in a way.

The two women sat under the tree for a while longer, until Emily lost feeling in her butt.

"Hey Jayje?" Emily whispered to her friend who was fairly close to falling asleep in the shade of the oak.

"Yeah Em?" J.J asked, stifling a yawn.

"I can't feel my ass." Emily said, causing J.J to burst out laughing. Slowly, she stood up and then offered a hand to the other woman. Emily was pulled to her feet with surprising force and began to jump up and down on the grass, trying to regain feeling in her lower half. God, she was so glad she hadn't worn heels that day.

The women linked hands again and began walking back out of the park, towards where they parked their cars. They still had so much more to talk about and go over, but no one wanted to approach the subject just yet. It was getting to be close to dinner now, and Will was due home soon. J.J needed the time to figure out how to tell him about the case before he got there.

"Well, I had a great time this afternoon J.J." Emily said as she walked past her car towards J.J's. The blonde smiled, unlocking her car and stepping up into it.

"So did I Em. I'll call you tonight so we can talk more, okay?" J.J told her friend, going to buckle her seatbelt when Emily held out her arms, silently requesting a hug. She took her hand off the seatbelt and swung her legs out of the SUV, wrapping her arms around the girl who was now shorter than her.

As Emily wrapped her arms tightly around the blonde woman, she silently slid one of her hands into J.J's pocket and fished out the rings. Luckily, J.J didn't notice her take the rings, so when she let go she placed the rings into her own pocket.

"See you tomorrow Jayje." Emily said, stepping back from the SUV so she could shut the door.

"Bye Em. I promise I'll call you tonight, after Will goes to bed." J.J said, starting the car and pulling away from the curb. As Emily walked back to her car, her mind was racing with ideas of how to propose to her new wife.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Next chapter will most likely be the proposal, or the talk on the phone with the ladies. One or the other, I'm not sure. I'll try and post again soon. Please review!


	5. Telephone Calls

A/N: Thanks so much for all the love you guys! It feels so great to hear that all of you are liking the story so much. So, here's chapter 5. Fair warning, J.J is going to be abused by Will. I'm not going to have a scene of her actually being beat, but she will talk about it. There is going to be some homophobic language and other insults. Please know that I don't agree with anything that Will says about J.J and Emily. It just has to be in here to make it realistic. As well in this chapter, Emily may or may not reveal her plans of proposal to our favourite blonde FBI agent. And a friendly reminder, there is no Henry in the story because I feel that he would almost prompt J.J to stay with his father for the benefits of living with both parents. I know Henry and J.J are unbelievably cute together, but this is what I'm going with. Please read and review. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT, IN ANYWAY, SHAPE OR FORM OWN THE RIGHTS TO CRIMINAL MINDS. If I did, Jemily would be real.

When Will finally left the house, it took all J.J had in her to still call Emily. To put it simply, Will had not taken the news of the assignment very well. He had been very quiet at first, not saying much except for a small grunt. Just as J.J thought he might actually be okay with it, he snapped. Will had thrown horrible insults at her, pushing her to the brink of tears. And then he did it. He slapped her, he punched her, he even kicked her once for good measure. This was by far the worst beating she had gotten in a long time. After he thought she had learned her lesson, he threw his still-full plate of stew onto the floor and walked out the front door, saying that he was going to his friend Eric's house for the night, and he would see her when she got back from North Carolina.

As the phone rang, J.J stood in her bra and panties in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom, looking at the bruises and cuts on her body. She hated being the stereo typical 'battered housewife', but in all honesty, she was too afraid to do anything about it. She faced horrible murderers every day at work, and yet she was terrified of confronting the biggest criminal in her life. J.J could practically see the irony in that statement, but what was she supposed to do? No one would want to date an extremely over-achieving FBI agent with a dark past and an even darker marriage. Which meant that there was only one option. She had to stay with Will.

"Hello?" a sleepy Emily Prentiss asked on the other end of the phone. She had stayed up as long as she could, keeping her phone in arm's distance, waiting for J.J's call. But somewhere between 10 and 11 she drifted off to sleep on the couch, Sergio lying on her stomach, purring happily. Now he chose to be cuddly. Of course. Just when she was about to leave for assignment.

"Em? It's J.J. Did I wake you?" the blonde asked, looking up from the hand shaped bruise on breast bone to the clock by the bed. It was almost 11:30 at night.

"Huh? No, you didn't wake me. I'm just tired. So, what's up? You tell Will yet?" Emily lied as Sergio jumped down from her stomach, going to lie on her bed.

"Yeah, I told him." J.J said quietly. Emily frowned on the other end of the phone. This wasn't going to be good.

"How'd he take it?" Emily asked as she picked up her plate and put it in the sink. She'd wash it in the morning before moving J.J.

"Well, not very well actually. He's spending the night at his friend's house. He got a little angry, and now I'm pretty sure I won't be seeing him till after Raleigh." J.J said, looking at the bruises as she said the words 'a little angry'. He had gotten more than a little angry. He had been furious, calling her a dyke and that he'd always known that she was in love with her best friend instead of him. J.J couldn't understand as to what he was talking about. He was right; she didn't love him, not anymore. But she didn't love Emily like that either. This was for a case. That was it. The worst part of Will's reaction wasn't being called a dyke, which she had gotten from various people in high school, or being beat. The worst part was when he called Emily a 'fucking faggot'. That part made J.J's heart feel like it had been stabbed with a cold, metal sword.

"Oh, I'm sorry Jayje. Do you want to talk about it?" Emily asked, pushing the phone up to her ear with her shoulder as she attempted to put pajamas on. J.J sighed, trying to decide if Emily should know what Will had called her. There wasn't really any harm in telling her what she had been called behind her back. She deserved to know.

"You still there J.J?" Emily asked, walking into the bathroom and pulling out her tooth brush. She hit speaker on the phone and set it on the counter. She figured J.J didn't need to hear every sound of her brushing her teeth.

"Yeah I'm here." J.J said quietly. Emily looked at the phone sadly, then put her toothbrush in her mouth.

"You're on speaker. No one's here but me though. You don't have to tell me what happened if you don't want to." Emily said, beginning to brush her teeth. J.J sighed once more, deciding to just go for it.

"Okay, I'll tell you. When…when I told Will about the case…and about how I'm pretending to be married to you…he called me a dyke." J.J whispered the last word with a bitter tone. That word disgusted her almost as much as what he had called Emily.

"Aw, Jayje. I'm so sorry honey. Do you want to come over?" Emily asked, rinsing her mouth out and shutting off the bathroom light. She flicked the light off in her room, turned the alarm clock on, and then plopped into bed next to Sergio. The cat glared at his owner for waking him up.

"No no. I'm alright. He also…he also called you…he called you a…" J.J said, on the verge of tears. She had to walk away from the mirror. The thought of her friend being called such a horrible name along with the marks on her skin made it too much to bear.

"What did he call me honey? I can take it, I don't care what he calls me. What did he say Jayje?" Emily asked as Sergio once again claimed a spot atop of her stomach. Emily decided that they needed to lay off the cat treats for the while. He was getting heavy.

"Em, he called you a…he called you a fucking faggot. I'm so sorry." J.J cried, tears slowly falling down her face. She wiped them away in frustration.

When Emily heard the words come out of J.J's mouth, she too felt a certain degree of sword to the heart. It was true, she was gay. No one knew that, though she did plan on telling J.J soon. After the assignment though. She didn't want to freak her out. But she steeled her insides, pushing the insult away.

"It's alright Jayje. It's not like you called me it. You can't control what Will says about me. It's fine. I told you, I don't care what he calls me." Emily told her friend. J.J knew that it hurt Emily though. She knew she was lying. It would hurt anyone, even the almighty, steel-nerved Emily Prentiss.

"If you say so Em. I really am sorry though." J.J said, putting pajamas on and lying down in the empty, king sized bed.

"It's alright J.J. I told the team that you were moving in with me, and they've all agreed to help. They said they'll be at your house for 1 tomorrow, so I suggest you start packing early." Emily told her friend, trying to change the subject. J.J nodded in the empty darkness, happy that she would be able to see her friends soon.

"Good idea. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about tonight?" J.J asked, pulling the blankets over her bruised body with some difficulty.

"Actually, there was. How far do you want to go with the whole couple thing? Like kissing, holding hands…stuff like that?" Emily asked. J.J sighed. She had been putting a great deal of thought into this, and she wasn't sure.

"I don't know. I guess we should probably try to at least kiss. We have to seem like we're actually in love." J.J said, holding her breath as she waited for her friend's answer.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about, or do you want to hit the hay? It's getting pretty late." Emily said, raising her eyebrows as J.J laughed quietly to herself. "What's so funny Jayje?" Emily asked her friend thru the phone. J.J sighed, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear.

"You did not just say hit the hay." J.J giggled. Emily laughed too.

"Just you wait Jareau. I'm going to get you for that." She threatened playfully. J.J laughed even harder, pain shooting thru her bruised ribs.

"Are you going to get my little dog too?" she taunted. Emily sighed dramatically on the other end.

"I'd watch your back Jareau. I'm going to get you." She threatened. J.J sighed, looking at the clock. It was just past midnight.

"Well alright, Emily. I'll see you tomorrow then." J.J told her friend. Emily smiled at her friend's new, happier mood.

"I'll see you tomorrow Jayje. I don't know if I'm over stepping here, but I love you." Emily said quietly, hoping that J.J wouldn't be crept out by her last statement.

"I love you too Emily. See you tomorrow. Bye Em." J.J said, smiling at her friend.

"Bye Jayje." Emily said quietly as J.J hung up the phone.

The next morning came all too quickly, and both Emily and J.J were tempted to throw things at their alarm clocks going off at seven in the morning. But, J.J had packing to do, and Emily had rings to buy, so they hesitantly pulled themselves out of bed.

J.J stood in front of her mirror again, figuring out how to best hide the bruising. It was better than last night, but bruises still peppered her back and ribs. A hand shaped bruise sat on her collar bone, and three cuts sat on her face. A deep, purple bruise formed on her left shin. J.J sighed. It was going to take a lot of makeup to hide her collarbone bruise and scratches on her face.

Emily stood in her walk in closet, trying to figure out what to wear for moving J.J. She knew there wouldn't be a lot of stuff to move, but she didn't want to have to move boxes or anything like that in her work clothes. She decided on a light pink blouse and dark wash, bootleg jeans with a pair of black pumps. Smiling, she looked at the space she had cleared for J.J's clothes. A nervous feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as she thought about what she was going to do tonight.

She had decided she was going to propose to J.J tonight. They hadn't really spoken about proposals or anything like that. To Emily's knowledge, J.J still thought she was just going to wear her engagement and wedding rings, but Emily had a different idea in mind. Emily planned on allowing J.J to use her wedding ring, but she felt that it would bring the two of them closer together if she had a new engagement ring. That was why Emily had taken the rings yesterday; so she could get a better look at the rings and not buy the same one. She wanted this to be totally different. In fact, Emily was about to go and buy the rings right now.

When she walked in to the store, she was met with an extremely bright showcase window. Dozens of rings sat in the cases; some silver, some gold, some small and some very large.

"Can I help you ma'am?" a sales lady asked from behind the counter. Emily looked up and smiled nervously.

"Actually, yes. I'm proposing to my girlfriend, and I need an engagement ring." She said, hoping the woman say anything about the fact that it was two women. She didn't want to get in that argument today.

"Well, that's wonderful. Were you thinking of anything specific?" the red haired woman asked. Emily smiled and began to tell her what she wanted.

In the end, Emily ended up walking away with two rings; an engagement ring for J.J and a wedding ring for herself. J.J's ring was very simple; a thin silver band with a clear diamond in the middle and two, smaller blue diamonds that matched J.J's eyes surrounded the larger one. Emily's ring was the same silver as JJ's wedding band and engagement ring, with five, small, clear diamonds embedded in it.

As she got in the car to drive to J.J's her pocket felt extremely heavy with the rings in it. A nervous feeling had permanently lodged itself in the pit of her stomach and her palms were sweaty. She was about to propose to Jennifer Jareau, the woman she was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with.

A/N: There's chapter 5! Writing what Will called J.J and Emily made my heart hurt, but it had to be done. So, please review. I will probably have chapter 6 up on Sunday or Monday. It's going to have the proposal, as well as some other shocking discoveries. Thanks for reading!


	6. Proposals and Bruises

A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews! They mean the world to me! Sorry it took longer than I thought, but it's almost double the normal length. Please, excuse the horrible language, but it had to be done. AS A SIDE NOTE, I DON'T OWN THE RIGHTS TO CRIMINAL MINDS. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTFUL OWNERS. Please read and review!

"Dear god J.J, how many shoes do you own?" Morgan asked as the whole team walked into J.J's room. Garcia gasped, causing Emily and Reid to break away from their intense conversation about Severus Snape and look at her.

"What is it Garcia?" Reid asked. Garcia was holding a pair of hot pink pumps in her hands, a look of shock on her face.

"J.J, where did you get these amazing shoes?" she asked the blonde agent. J.J looked up from the boxes she was piling up by the door with Hotch and Rossi's help.

"Oh, I got them for Christmas a few years ago from Will. I've never worn them though. You can have them if you want." J.J said, exchanging a quick glance with Emily as she said the name Will. Just the mention of the name made J.J's blood run cold, and Emily's blood boil. Will made J.J terrified, yet Will made Emily mad. Just the fact that he had the nerve to call her a 'faggot' made her hate him, but the fact that he called J.J a dyke made her want to punch the man in the face. How could someone call their own wife such a horrible name?

"You coming Princess?" Morgan asked, half way out the door. The team had all grabbed a box and were already gone.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm coming." Emily said, grabbing the last box off the floor. Morgan stepped in front of the door so she couldn't get out. "Morgan, if you want me to help, you have to let me leave." Emily said, annoyed at her friend. He didn't move though; he simply took the box from Emily's hands and made her sit on the bed.

"What were you thinking about Princess?" Morgan asked. Emily sighed, running a hand threw her hair. Okay, she had lied before when she said no one knew about her little, um, secret. She had told Morgan about her being into girls about a month ago, and he had been nothing but supportive since. She was glad that the first person she came out to had such a positive reaction; it made her feel like everything was going to be okay.

"Oh, just something that Will said to J.J after she told him about the case last night." Emily said with a sigh, looking at the picture of J.J and Will on their wedding day that hung on the wall. She was tempted to draw on Will's face with a permanent marker.

"What did he say Princess?" Morgan asked, sitting down next to his friend. Emily sighed, looking down at her hands and then back at Morgan.

"If I tell you, you can't tell J.J you know. Can you do that?" Emily asked. Morgan nodded, taking a hold of Emily's cold hand. "He…he called J.J a dyke, and me a, and I quote, fucking faggot." Emily said, looking at the picture again. Morgan's blood began to boil.

"That good for nothing, low life-" Morgan started, but after a while couldn't get words walked in then, a confused look on her face.

"Are you two coming anytime soon? There's not much more to—Emily, what's wrong sugar?"she asked at the sight of the tears in the corners of Emily's eyes. Emily sighed, wiping at them, frustrated. Morgan had calmed down a bit by now, and angrily spit out the words that Emily had been silently praying he wouldn't say.

"Will called Jayje a dyke and Emily a fucking faggot when she told him about the case last night." He spit angrily. Garcia's mouth fell open.

"That bastard!" Garcia exclaimed, her mouth twisting into an angry scowl. It softened though, when she saw Emily's face fall. "Aww, baby girl. I'm so sorry honey. Don't listen to him. I love you no matter what, and you're not a, you know what." She cooed, walking over to the brunette agent and wrapping her in a hug. When the blonde let go, Emily turned to Morgan.

"You told Garcia?" she asked, slight anger in her tone from his betrayal. Morgan held his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, she figured it out on her own. I didn't tell a soul Princess." He defended himself. Now Emily turned to look at Garcia.

"How did you know?" she asked the colorful woman. Garcia smiled, picking up Emily's discarded box.

"Please. You look after J.J like a lostpuppy. And I figured that there was a reason as to why I've never met any of your boyfriends." She explained. Emily sighed, shaking her head and following the other two agents out of the bedroom and to the government SUV's parked in the driveway.

"Hey Em. Where ya been? We're all ready to go, I just have to grab my purse and lock up the house." J.J said as Morgan and Garcia slid the last two boxes into the back of the car.

"Oh, just chatting with Morgan." Emily said simply, exchanging a quick glance with the tall, handsome man. He smiled.

"Okay. Well you guys go ahead and hop in, I'll meet you at Em's. I'm going to drive over myself, if you don't mind." J.J said, shutting the trunk. The rest of the team nodded, and then went to get in the two cars. Hotch drove with Rossi and Morgan, and Garcia and Reid joined Emily in her SUV.

The trip back to Emily's was rather quiet, which was strange for Reid.

"What's wrong Reid? You're awfully quiet." Emily asked as she turned onto her street.

"So are you and J.J going to be married?" he asked, looking at the woman in the seat next to him. Garcia leaned forward in her seat.

"Yeah Em, what's going on there? I know I'm supposed to make it legal, but are you actually going to pretend to be married?" Garcia asked. Emily simply smiled, pulling into the parking lot to her condo.

"You'll have to wait and see. It won't be long now." She said with a sly smile. Garcia and Reid looked at each other, shaking their heads. Well wasn't Emily incredibly helpful today.

It only took about ten minutes to unload everything from the SUV's into Emily's apartment, as J.J wasn't bringing that much stuff with her to Raleigh. The team was now all sitting in Emily's living room, lounging around and chatting about random things. It was nice to have some free time together. They had been very busy for the last little while, and hadn't seen much of each other.

As Emily walked into the living room with a new bottle of wine, the rings in her pocket suddenly seemed extremely heavy. She sat down in a chair next to Rossi and just watched the rest of the team talk for a while until she couldn't take it anymore. The whole team was here; it was now or never. With a deep breath, she stood up and tapped a fork on the side of her wine glass. The room fell silent as all eyes turned to Emily.

"I have something very important to say." The brunette declared, setting her glass down on the coffee table in front of her and walked over to stand in front of J.J. The blonde looked up at her, confused.

"Em, what are you doing?" she asked with a small smile. Emily took hold of both of J.J's hands in hers, pulling the blonde woman up to look her in the eyes. Emily took a deep breath.

"J.J, ever since the day I met you in Quantico five years ago, I've known that you were going to be my best friend. We've been through so much together; from cases to wild girl's nights with Garcia—" Emily was cut off by a cat call from Garcia. The team laughed as Emily continued. "To me almost dying. But even though we've been thru hell and high water and back again, you've never left my side. You've always been there for me, and that's why I love you so much. And, I want a chance to do the same. Which is why-" She said, still looking deep into J.J's eyes that now had tears in the corners. Taking a deep breath, Emily reached into her pocket and slowly got down onto one knee, holding onto J.J's right hand.

"I would love it if you would do me the honour of becoming my pretend wife. Jennifer Sandra Jareau, will you marry me?" Emily asked the blonde, accompanied by gasps throughout the room. The brunette agent slowly let go of the blonde's hand and opened the small white box, revealing the engagement ring she had bought earlier in the day.

J.J's hands flew to her mouth, accompanied by a loud gasp. Her blue eyes welled up with tears at the sight of the ring. Emily had to have dropped some serious money on that ring.

"Em, it's beautiful. Yes, yes I'll marry you." J.J said in a hurried voice, stretching out her left hand towards the woman kneeling on the ground. With a smile and shaking hand, Emily picked up the ring out of the box and slid it onto J.J's long, slender finger. J.J pulled Emily up off the floor and met her lips with her own, gently kissing the shocked woman on mouth.

The kiss, that only lasted about three seconds, drew gasps from Garcia, Reid and Morgan, and made Emily's head spin on her shoulders. When J.J pulled away, Emily gently wrapped her arms around the shorter woman's waist, holding her close. J.J mirrored the other woman's actions.

"What was that about Jayje?" Emily asked, looking her new 'wife' in the eyes which still held tears in the corners. The former media liaison smiled and let go of the woman's waist, now wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Well, you said we should start acting like a couple. It felt appropriate." J.J said simply, looking down at the ring. Garcia pulled a camera out of her purse and took a few pictures, encasing the living room in bright flashes.

Hotch's phone rang then, and he excused himself, stepping out into the hallway. Garcia stood up and rushed over to the women standing in the middle of the room and threw her arms around them.

"Congratulations you guys! I wish this was real, so I could throw you beautiful ladies a wedding! Come here J.J, let me see the rock Emily just put on your finger!" she exclaimed, grabbing J.J's hand and bringing it up to her face. She let go of it after a moment, revealing a mouth that hung open.

"My god Emily. That rock must have cost you a small fortune!" Garcia exclaimed. Emily smiled, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Well, J.J's worth it." She said, a smile stretching across her face as the blonde woman kissed her on the cheek. Hotch stepped back into the room then, sliding his phone into his pocket.

"I've got to go pick up Jack from daycare. He's not feeling too well. Anyone need a ride back to headquarters while I'm leaving?" he asked. Rossi and Reid nodded, standing up and walking over to J.J and Emily to give them hugs and get a look.

As Reid let go of Emily, Rossi gently took hold of J.J's hand and looked at the ring on her finger.

"Wow, you are one lucky woman J.J." he said, placing a kiss on her cheek. J.J smiled, looking across the room at Emily.

"I know I am." She said simply. Rossi said his goodbyes to the blonde and walked over to Emily, pulling her into a hug.

"Good job Prentiss. J.J's a very lucky woman." Rossi told her. Emily simply smiled and let out a little chuckle.

"Thanks Rossi. I'll see you tomorrow." She said as he went to join Reid and Hotch at the door.

"What about you two, Morgan and Garcia? How do you plan on getting home?" Hotch asked, pulling his keys out of his pocket.

"Oh, don't worry about us. Princess will drive us home." Morgan said, with a wink towards the brunette. Emily smiled and raised her eyebrows.

"I will, will I?" she asked.

"Oh come on Princess, you know you don't want to put all of this out on the corner of the street." Morgan said, gesturing to his abs and making a puppy dog face. Emily laughed, giving the man a smack on the shoulder.

"Anyways, we'll walk you guys down." J.J said, trying to change the subject. The team laughed, filing out of the apartment and walking down to the parking lot behind the building. It had rained overnight, and puddles sat sporadically around the lot, shining in the hot, August sunlight.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow." Emily said as the three FBI agents stepped into the SUV. They nodded and said goodbye one last time, pulling out of the parking lot.

The other four agents stood in the lot for a moment, talking about the summer heat that was currently plaguing the city.

"You know, we left Sergio alone in an apartment with a bunch of half open boxes. That probably wasn't the smartest idea on the planet." Emily said with a laugh. The team laughed, heading back inside, J.J at the front of the line. One moment, everything was fine, and the next, her foot caught behind her other and she fell forward, face first into one of the muddy puddles.

Apparently her reflexes weren't as fast as she thought, and they didn't get up in time. Her face fell into the puddles, along with her chest and arms.

"Oh, sunshine!" Garcia exclaimed, stifling a laugh. Emily rushed forward and grabbed a hold of the blonde's outstretched hand, pulling her out of the mud with a laugh. Morgan and Garcia burst out laughing at the sight of J.J. Her face was completely covered in the thick, brown mud, along with her blue t-shirt and arms. Her hair was matted with the thick, chunky mud, and her new ring was coated in a thick layer.

"Oh J.J. I told you I'd get you back. Even though I had nothing to do with this, I'd call it karma." Emily said with a laugh, gently wiping the mud from her eyes. J.J glared at the brunette, and then let out a small chuckle. Once the four of them had stopped laughing, they headed back upstairs so J.J could shower.

"You go ahead and shower Jayje. I don't think there are any towels in the bathroom, but I'll bring some in a minute. Want Morgan to go get some takeout?" Emily asked as J.J walked down the hall towards the bathroom.

"That would be wonderful. Anything but Chinese." J.J said as she shut the bathroom door. Emily pulled open a kitchen drawer and handed Morgan a pizza takeout menu.

"Here you go. I'll go bring J.J the towels." Emily said. Morgan frowned.

"Why do I have to go get the food?" he pouted. Garcia whacked the man on the back of the head.

"Oh, stop your whining and just order the pizza, you baby." Garcia scolded. Emily laughed, walking out of the room and down the hall towards the linens closet at the end. She heard the shower start up as she pulled out to light blue towels and a wash cloth to match.

Slowly opening the bathroom door, Emily stuck her head in.

"I've got your towels Jayje. I'm just going to set them on the counter. And I'll bring your dirty clothes with me, so I can throw them in the wash." She said, stepping into the bathroom and setting the towels down. As she was about to bend over and pick up the clothes, J.J's voice stopped her.

"Em, are you still there?" the blonde woman asked from inside the shower.

"Yeah, I'm still here Jayje. What do you need?" Emily asked.

"Do you have any shampoo? I forgot to grab mine before I got in." J.J said, trying to get the clumps of mud out of her hair.

"Yeah, it's under the sink. Give me a sec and I'll pass it to you." Emily said, bending over and pulling out a brand new bottle of shampoo. She pulled the shower curtain back and stretched out her arm, trying to avoid looking at the naked blonde. But something unusual on J.J's ribs made her look up.

"Thanks for the—what are you looking at Em?" J.J asked as she reached out and took the shampoo from her friend. Emily pulled the curtain back a bit farther in order to allow more light to hit the blonde. She could make out the shape of a hand print on J.J's breast bone, as well as small bruises peppering her ribs. A deep, purple bruise sat on J.J's swollen shin.

"J.J, who did this to you?" Emily asked in horror, taking in the sight of the bruises covering pale skin.

"What are you…oh my god, no, you weren't supposed to see these. You can't see these." J.J exclaimed, trying to cover herself. Emily pulled the curtain forward again, hiding the blonde.

"Jayje, I need to talk to you when you're done in there." Emily said, picking up the muddy clothes from the floor and walking out the bathroom door.

When J.J heard the door shut behind her new wife, she leaned her forehead against the cool, tile wall of the shower, allowing tears to slowly cascade down her cheeks. Emily had seen the bruises. She wanted to talk to her after she got out of the shower. This was it. Emily was going to know about Will. And Will was going to kill J.J when he found out.

As Emily sat on her bed, waiting for J.J to exit the bathroom, her mind filled with a thousand possibilities as to how and why J.J was covered with bruises. The one that stood out most in her mind was that someone had beaten her. And recently too.

When J.J finally got up the courage to walk into Emily's bedroom, tears still sat in the bottom of her eyes. She stood in the doorway for a moment in only a towel, her damp hair falling messily down her back. Emily looked at the blonde woman sadly.

"J.J, can you shut the door and come over here?" she asked quietly. Slowly, J.J shut the bedroom door and walked over to stand in front of Emily. "Okay J.J, I don't want you to be scared or freaked out, but can you please drop the towel so I can see the bruises?" Emily asked quietly. Nodding, J.J slowly let the towel drop to her feet, along with her tears. Emily let out a loud gasp as she saw the bruises, causing J.J to move to hide herself with her arms.

Emily slowly stood up from her seat on the bed and walked towards the blonde woman, gently stretching an arm out to touch J.J on the arm. The blonde looked down at the hand resting lightly on her arm, tears slowly falling down her pale cheeks. They were tears of fear; fear of what Will would do to her, and Emily, when he found out someone else knew. Yet they were also tears of relief; relief that her secret was finally out there in the open. For almost a year she had spent extra time planning out her outfits, making sure they properly hid all of her various bruises and cuts.

"J.J...who did this to you?" Emily whispered, ghosting her fingers over the hand shaped bruise on J.J's collar bone. The hand print was extremely large; it looked like it belonged to man. When J.J didn't answer her question, Emily slowly walked around the blonde, looking her up and down and taking in the colourful marks covering her skin. The fact that the blonde was standing in front of her naked didn't even cross her mind as she looked at the broken body of her best friend.

"Jayje, who hurt you?" Emily whispered again, tears now forming in her eyes. J.J refused to look the brunette in the eyes, ashamed that she had let the abuse get this far. She should have stopped it the first time he hit her, that cold November evening almost a year and a half ago.

"Can I put the towel on?" J.J whispered, wiping at her eyes. Emily frowned.

"Jayje, who did this to you? Why can't you answer me?" she asked, sounding much harsher than she meant to. Her expression immediately softened though, as she saw the blonde flinch away from her. Slowly, Emily reached out and pulled the blonde into her, resting one arm around J.J's bare waist, and her other on the back of her head. J.J rested her forehead on Emily's warm shoulder, letting the tears continue to fall.

A sharp knock on the bedroom door made the two woman jump apart, just in time for Garcia to walk in.

"Morgan's back with—J.J! What happened sunshine?" Garcia exclaimed, taking in the sight of the other blonde's bruised and cut body. J.J frantically reached for the towel that still lay at her feet, wrapping it around her body.

"Nothing...no one. I'm fine." J.J said, wiping away at the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Oh Jayje, that's not nothing honey. Someone beat you. Who did this?" Garcia asked her once again, closing the door so Morgan wouldn't see in. He didn't need to know everything.

"I...I can't tell you. He'll hurt me. He'll hurt you, Emily." J.J whispered, sitting down on the bed. Emily looked between J.J and Garcia. She gently sat down next to J.J on the bed, intertwining her fingers with J.J's.

"Jayje, I am not going to let anyone hurt you. No one is going to hurt me, okay? Please honey, just tell me." Emily whispered. J.J sighed, finally looking the FBI agent in the eyes.

"Will did. Will hurt me. He has been since November of 2011." She said quietly. An anger pulsed through Emily's veins when she heard J.J say his name. She had had a feeling that it was Will who had left that horrendous mark on J.J's breast bone.

"That bastard!" Garcia exclaimed for the second time that day. How in hell did someone cause this much harm to their own wife?

"I'm so sorry I never told you guys. I was just so scared he was going to hurt me even more than he already has." J.J cried into Emily's shoulder. Emily let out a loud sigh along with some of her anger, pulling the trembling girl in close to her.

"Shh, J.J. You have nothing to apologize for, okay? This is not your fault. None of this is your fault. The only person to blame is Will. No one else. So please, don't blame yourself." Emily whispered into the blonde girl's hair. J.J let out a sob.

"He's going to hurt me Emily. He's going to hurt you." She cried. Emily shook her head sadly, looking up at Garcia. The technology wizard had tears in her eyes.

"No he's not J.J. He's not going to hurt you, or me, or anyone else. As soon as we're done here, I'm going to call Rossi, and we're going to have that bastard arrested, okay? You're safe now J.J, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you." Emily whispered as J.J continued to cry into her shoulder. They sat like that for a long time, until J.J had run out of tears and couldn't cry anymore.

"Emily?" J.J hiccupped. Emily looked down at the blonde woman.

"Yes J.J?" she asked softly. J.J looked up at the brunette with swollen eyes.

"Thank you." She whispered. Emily smiled for the first time since she saw the bruises.

"For what?" she asked. J.J leaned up and kissed Emily lightly on the lips.

"For everything. For the ring, for being so supportive, for telling me everything is going to be alright. For loving me when no one else does." She said as she pulled away. Garcia cleared throat.

"Um, excuse me blondie, but that's a lie. I love you, and so does the rest of the team. And your parents love you, and your brother and sister do too. Tons of people love you sunshine. Don't you think for one second that no one loves you. Don't you dare." Garcia said strictly, pulling J.J lightly into a hug.

When they pulled apart, J.J looked down at the ring on her finger.

"I'm going to go get dressed. You...you can call Rossi." She said quietly, standing up from the bed and walking out the door to the guest room.

"What do we do now?" Garcia asked, wiping at her eyes underneath her glasses.

"Garcia, fill Morgan in. I need to call Rossi." Emily said, pulling out her cell phone and walking out the bedroom door, going to make a few phone calls.

A/N: Okay, I hope that it was long enough for all of you! Please review and I'll try and update as soon as I can! Next chapter will be them heading to Raleigh, but don't worry, they will still be dealing with Will.


	7. Discussions

A/N: I am so terribly sorry for the long wait, but school just finished and I have been so busy with final projects and studying for exams. But, since you were all so patient, I made this chapter a bit longer than others. I hope you like it! As a disclaimer, I DO NOT, IN ANYWAY, SHAPE, OR FORM OWN THE RIGHTS TO CRIMINAL MINDS. All rights belong to whomever it may concern. Please read and review, and enjoy!

The next morning was hard on the two agents now living under one roof, as they weren't exactly sure as to what to say to one another.

After getting off the phone with a very angry SSA David Rossi, who promised to have Hotch start the papers for filing charges against the bastard who hurt J.J, Emily had returned to the living room to find an unbelievably pissed off Derek and a hysterical Garcia.

"Emily, how come we didn't ever notice the marks? We could have locked that sick bastard up over a year ago, but we didn't and J.J's been hurt all this time!" he exclaimed, quietly so J.J wouldn't heat him. He was currently pacing back and forth across the living room floor. Emily looked up from a very upset Garcia and held a finger to her lips, gesturing down the hall to where J.J was supposedly getting changed into clothes that weren't covered in parking lot mud. Garcia let out a sob, and the brunette agent pulled the colourful woman into an embrace, holding her close.

"How could we not see it, Em? How did we just let my sunshine get abused by her fucker of a husband for a year and a half? The poor woman, she...she never said anything to us. Why? Why wouldn't she tell us?" Garcia cried, wiping away at the tears that slid down her cheeks.

"Okay, I've heard enough of this." Emily began, standing up from her seat on the couch next to Garcia. "I know that you're mad and upset at Will, and at J.J. Hell, I am so tempted to grab my gun right now and put a bullet in that bastard's skull. But, we can't. We need to accept the fact that she didn't tell us, and not be angry about it. You two didn't see the terror in her eyes when I first saw her in the shower. Jennifer is terrified that Will is going to hurt her again. That's why she didn't tell anyone, she figured that if she didn't tell anyone, she would be able to keep us safe from Will. And now that people know about it, she's going to be ashamed and scared. What we need to do is be there to support her, and go on acting like everything is normal again. Alright?" Emily ranted, letting go of the breath she had been holding and looking both of the agents in the eyes.

With a sigh, they nodded their heads; Garcia taking out a Kleenex and fixing her makeup, Morgan slowly counting to fifty, as ten wasn't working. Emily smiled.

"Okay. Thank you. Now, Rossi told me that he was going to have Hotch put out all of the paperwork needed, and get a warrant to arrest Will. All J.J needs to do is go to the hospital to give her statement and have pictures taken as evidence. So, we're going to eat pizza, and I'll bring you two back to headquarters, and we'll see what happens with J.J from there. Okay?" she asked the other two agents in the room. They nodded their heads, and Morgan got up to get plates and napkins. Garcia excused herself to the bathroom to fix her make up properly, and Emily went to find J.J.

The two women almost ran into each other once again as J.J was leaving the guest bedroom, now donning a pair of beat up blue jeans and a grey hoody that covered all the markings on her, except the scratch by her left eye and the one following her right cheekbone.

"How you doing, Jayje?" Emily asked softly, moving to rest a hand on the blonde's shoulder, but deciding against it at the last minute, causing the movement to look awkward and tense. J.J sighed, running a hand through her damp hair.

"I...I'm not sure how I'm doing Em. Dealing as best I can." She said simply. Emily nodded, her eyes full of sadness directed to the other FBI moved in to hug the blonde, and actually followed through with the action, pulling her best friend in close to her. She held the exhausted blonde to her front for a moment, no one saying anything. But they didn't need to. They just stood in the hallway, conversing silently.

When J.J decided that she did indeed feel a bit better, she relaxed her grip on the brunette and they let go of each other. The blonde woman sighed, once again playing with her hair.

"I heard what you said to Derek and Pen...I think I want to go to the hospital by myself...right after dinner. I'd rather just get it over with." J.J said quietly to her best friend, fiddling with the engagement ring on her finger. Emily gave the blonde a sad smile and nodded her head, snaking an arm around her shoulders.

"Whatever you want J.J. Let's go get you some food." She said quietly as J.J wrapped her arm around the slightly taller girl's waist, resting her head on the brunette's shoulder. The two women walked slowly back into the kitchen, where Morgan and Garcia were busy dishing out pizza on to their plates. Derek had about five pieces on his plate, and was currently trying to steal one off of Garcia's.

"Morgan, if you take that piece of pizza, I swear to god I will get on my computer as soon as we get back to headquarters and make your credit rating so bad, you're going to have to move to Venezuela and change your name to Manuel just to stay alive." The colourful woman warned, her tone more serious than it had been in months.

"Woah, baby girl. I'm sorry. Just fooling around with you...I shouldn't have done that. I know you're on edge about Jayje." He said, looking up as he noticed the two women walking into the kitchen. J.J let go of Emily and removed the plates of pizza from her friends hands', setting them down on the table and wrapping an arm around each of them, pulling them in close for a hug.

"Thanks for caring so much you guys. But you don't need to be so angry. What's happened has happened, and now I would like to just try and move on, okay?" she asked quietly, placing a kiss on each of their cheeks. Emily couldn't help but smile as she stood by the door, watching the friends hug it out.

"Oh honey, I know you want to forget all about it, and I would love to do that. But that's a really big thing to just let blow over." Garcia said as J.J let go of them. The blonde woman smiled sadly, nodding her head.

"I know it is. But can we just have a peaceful dinner please? I'm going to the hospital after, and I'd like to try and forget about it for a bit...alright?" J.J asked quietly. Garcia smiled sadly, and nodded her head.

"Alright sunshine. We'll try and forget about it for now." She told the other blonde woman. Morgan nodded behind her, going to sit down on the couch in the living room, but he stopped himself at the last moment.

"You ladies coming?" he asked the women standing in the kitchen.

"You go ahead Morgan, we'll be out there in a minute." Emily told him, going to get plates for herself and J.J.

"You got it Princess." He said with a smile, walking out of the kitchen and in to the living room, where he took a seat in one of the two armchairs.

"How many pieces do you want Jayje?" Emily asked her new wife, walking over to the pizza box and inhaling the delicious smell.

"Uh…three's fine for now." J.J said, pulling a glass out of the cupboard and pouring some water into it. She took a big gulp and sighed, happy that the cool water was soothing her dry throat. The brunette placed three pieces of cheesy, pepperoni pizza on a plate and passed it to J.J, then placed three on her own plate.

The women went out into to the living room to join Morgan, all much happier now at the prospect of food in their stomachs. Garcia took the other armchair, and Emily joined J.J on the sofa, setting her plate down on the coffee table.

The agents had a peaceful dinner, no one really talking; they were all too busy filling their mouths with the delicious pizza that smelled amazing.

As Emily and J.J each started on their third pieces of pizza, Garcia decided it was time to break the silence.

"So, my beautiful ladies. How does it feel to be newly engaged?" she asked, leaning back in her chair, a grin on her face. Morgan couldn't help but smile either; even if it was just a fake marriage, he was happy that Emily was happy.

"It's wonderful. I never thought I'd be marrying my best friend." J.J said with a smile, her blue eyes glistening with a true happiness. Emily smiled as well.

"Well, that makes two of us." She said with a laugh. Garcia and Morgan had to desperately try to hide their laughs at the brunette's comment.

"Well, how about a picture of the happy couple, huh? I'm going to need all the pictures I can get for your video montage at your real wedding!" Garcia asked, pulling out her camera from her purse with a sly smile. J.J laughed at the other blonde.

"Garcia, we aren't actually going to get married. When we're done this assignment, we're going back to just being friends. Right Em?" she asked the brunette, leaning into her. Emily's face fell for a brief moment. Morgan and Garcia noticed and cast each other quick, sad glances. Poor Emily. The woman she was in love with didn't love her back.

"Right Jayje." Emily said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. J.J got up off of Emily and looked at the brunette seriously.

"Are you okay Emily? You sound sad." She asked her best friend. The FBI agent nodded, wiping at her eyes.

"I'm fine. Excuse me for a moment." Emily muttered, getting up from the couch and walking quickly down the hallway, shutting the bathroom door behind her.

Back in the living room, Morgan, Garcia and J.J sat in silence, starring around the room. No one wanted to bring up the elephant in the room. Garcia and Morgan didn't want to tell J.J about Emily's crush. It wasn't their place to do so. And J.J, bless the poor girl's heart, had no clue as to what was going on.

"What was that about?" J.J asked quietly, feeling as though she had done something to upset the brunette FBI agent. Emily was tough as nails. She never got upset. Was it J.J's fault? Was Emily upset about what happened to her?

"I don't know sunshine. I'll go talk to her, if you want." Garcia said quietly, making to stand up. Morgan blocked the colourful woman with his outstretched arm.

"I've got this baby girl. I'll talk to Prentiss. Why don't you stay out here and keep J.J company?" he said, standing up and walking towards the bathroom. Garcia let out an exasperated sigh. She never got to do anything.

In the bathroom, Emily looked at herself in the mirror for a good long minute, watching tears well up in her eyes and slowly roll down her cheeks. She didn't move to brush them away; it was time for her annual break down...Emily Prentiss was nothing if not punctual. But she didn't want to do this right now, not with J.J out in the living room dealing with her own issues that were much bigger than Emily's.

Silently, she leaned back against the cool, dark brown wall and slid down to the floor, resting her head in her hands. She couldn't help it; she tried to stop crying, but her breakdown was coming whether she wanted it to or not.

A soft knock on the door made her hold her breath. If that was J.J...she wasn't sure if she would be able to keep the secret from her any longer. If J.J walked into the bathroom, Emily was positive she would walk out knowing Emily's deepest, darkest, and longest kept secret. And she wasn't sure if she was ready for that.

"Jay...is that you?" Emily asked, trying to keep the tears out of her voice. She felt a moment of relief when she heard the person on the other side of the door answer.

"No, it's just me Princess. Can I come in?" Morgan asked quietly, his voice full of empathy. Emily sighed, reaching up and popping the lock on the door handle open. Slowly, Morgan inched open the door and poked his head inside, frowning when he saw the upset women on the floor.

"Oh man, Princess." He said simply, shutting the door behind him and joining the upset woman on the floor. Emily sighed, wiping away some of the tears that were rolling down her cheeks still. Morgan slowly wrapped an arm around the woman's shaking shoulders, pulling her into his shoulder. He didn't pressure her to talk; he simply let Emily cry it out on his shoulder.

When Emily's tears began to slow down, she leaned away from her best friend and pulled a tissue off the counter, wiping at her eyes.

"I'm sorry for doing this Morgan." She whispered, finally starting to gain a bit more of her composure. Morgan snorted.

"Don't apologize for having emotions, princess. I'm sorry that you're so upset though." He told her, making her let out a quiet sob.

"I know she doesn't like me like that Derek. I just, I...I didn't think it was going to hurt as much as it did for her to say that we are nothing more than friends putting on a show. And...and I know I shouldn't be upset, because I know Jay's liked guys since she was in kindergarten, but I just can't help it." Emily cried, wiping at her eyes once again.

"Oh Princess, don't be sorry for liking J.J. She's a great girl. Hell, if I didn't have the constant threat known as Penelope Garcia hanging over my shoulder, I'd totally tap that." Morgan said with a laugh, causing Emily to start laughing as well. Her laughter filled the bathroom, making her sides hurt and Morgan smile.

When Emily finally gained controlled of her laughter, she wiped away the rest of her tears. The raven haired woman wacked Morgan on the back of the arm playfully. The man's faced turned into one of pain.

"What the heck was that for Prentiss?" he said playfully, trying desperately to hide the smile that was creeping across his face. Emily smiled.

"For saying that you would 'tap J.J'." she told the agent sitting on the floor next to her, air quoting the words tap and J.J. Morgan laughed.

"I just speak the truth Prentiss. But seriously. Are you going to be okay?" he asked the woman next to him, taking on a much more serious tone. Emily sighed and nodded.

"Yeah. I'll be alright. I think that breakdown was about more than just Jayje. I swear, sometimes I hate my job." She said truthfully with a small smile. Morgan nodded his head.

"You and me both Prentiss. You and me both." He told the woman. She leaned up against the man on the floor next to her for a moment.

"So what's it going to take for me to get you to not tell the whole BAU that I'd tap J.J?" Morgan asked. Emily laughed sinisterly.

"Oh, I'd say 20 bucks is a fair price." She told the man. Morgan sighed dramatically and pulled his wallet out of his pocket.

"You know, it costs more and more each day to shut someone up." He told the woman, handing her a twenty dollar bill. Emily laughed, taking it and sticking it in the pocket of her jeans.

"I'll meet you out in the living room in a minute Morgan." She told him. Morgan helped his best friend up off the floor and went to walk out the door when Emily stopped him. She stretched her arms out and he smiled. "Thank you Derek. For everything." Emily whispered as he held her close to him.

"No problem Princess. That's what I'm here for." Morgan said, letting the raven haired woman go. "See you in a minute." He told her, opening the bathroom door and walking back into the living room. Emily took a second to compose herself; splashed cold water on her face and pulled her hair up into a ponytail.

When Emily returned to the living room, she found J.J sitting on the couch across from Garcia, starring awkwardly around the room.

"Hey J.J" Emily said quietly, giving Morgan a smile when he picked up all the plates and brought them into the kitchen. Garcia looked between the two women and quickly made up the excuse of helping Morgan with the dishes and all but ran out of the living room. Emily sat down next to J.J on the couch and slowly took hold of the blonde FBI agent's hand. J.J smiled.

"Em, are you okay?" she asked quietly. Emily sighed.

"Honestly Jayje, no. I'm not okay. This job is just so hard sometimes..." the older woman trailed off. A part of J.J sighed on the inside, glad that she wasn't upset about her.

"Oh, Emily. I know this job is hard, which is why it's so important to not just push all those feelings into teeny tiny little boxes inside that dark and scary place known as the brain of Emily Prentiss." She told the woman she was holding hands with. Emily sighed, shaking her head. Slowly, J.J pulled Emily into her, shifting so Emily's head was resting comfortably on her shoulder. The blonde placed a light kiss on the other woman's head.

"I don't know what I would do without you J.J." Emily said quietly, her heart fluttering as J.J placed another soft kiss on her temple.

"And I you, Emily. And I you." J.J told the brunette laying on her shoulder. The two newly 'engaged' women sat on the couch with each other for a few minutes, until J.J moved her shoulder and Emily lifted herself off the blonde.

"Well, as much I don't want to do this, I think I need to head down to the hospital and get it over with." J.J said quietly. Emily frowned as Morgan and Garcia slowly walked into the living room, unsure of what to do with the situation in front of them.

"Alright, if you're sure Jayje. Do you want me to come with you?" Emily asked her friend. J.J looked away.

"No, I want to do this on my own." J.J said quietly.

"Okay. I'll drive Derek and Pen back to headquarters. If you change your mind honey, just let me know, okay?" Emily asked. J.J nodded and placed a kiss softly on Emily's cheek. Emily smiled and stood up from the couch, pulling on a pair of shoes and grabbing her keys from the hook at the front door.

The three FBI agents each took a turn hugging J.J, Emily promising to be up when she got home. With one final kiss on the cheek from Garcia, the three friends left J.J in the condo and walked out to Emily's SUV.

The ride to headquarters was quiet and uneventful; no one really felt like talking. When the three arrived at Quantico, Garcia and Morgan gave Emily a quick pep talk on the situation between her and J.J, and then before she knew it, Emily was back in her condo.

She walked in the door to find Sergio lying happily on the couch, and no sight of J.J. Noticing that it was getting close to 10 o'clock, the woman walked into her room and changed into a pair of light blue pyjama pants and a tight fitting grey t-shirt.

"Well, Serg. I think I'm going to join you on the couch and wait for J.J to get home. What do you think?" Emily asked the cat as she joined him on the couch. He meowed in response, jumping down and running to the door, just in time for J.J to walk in.

Emily sighed at the sight of the woman. Tears slowly ran down the blonde's face, and her whole body shook ever so slightly.

"Jayje? Are you all right?" Emily asked, making to stand up. J.J held up a hand to stop her. The blonde woman slid her shoes off, as well as her jeans. Tossing the jeans on one of the arm chairs, she gestured for Emily to lie down on the couch.

"I just want to sleep Em." J.J said as Emily lay down on the couch, pushing as far back into it as she could. The blonde woman shut the lamps off, locked the door, and then joined her best friend on the couch, lying right up against her. Emily pulled J.J into her front and placed an arm protectively around her waist.

"Hotch was at the hospital. He waited there for three hours for me Emily." J.J whispered, snuggling into her friend. Emily smiled into the dark living room.

"Well, I guess I will have to thank him the next time I see him then." She told the other woman. J.J was silent for a few minutes. "Are you asleep Jayje?" Emily whispered.

"No, I'm too afraid to go to sleep." J.J said truthfully. She was terrified as to what Will was going to do about her reporting the abuse.

"You don't need to be. I'm right here. And if he tries to touch you, I will put a bullet in that bastard's skull so fast, he won't even be able to blink." Emily told her friend. J.J laughed quietly.

"I love you, Emily Prentiss." She said into the darkness. Emily's heart melted into mush.

"I love you too, Jennifer Jareau." She whispered quietly. Eventually, the two women drifted into sleep, never letting each other go.

A/N: So, once again. Sorry for the wait. I promise updates will be up more frequently now though since school is out. Please leave reviews, they do help me work faster!


	8. Isabella and Emily Sitting In a Tree

A/N: Sorry for the wait, but I had a serious case of writer's block for a while. Nothing really exciting happens in this chapter, because pretty much a filler between the last and next one. So, please enjoy! As a side note, I DO NOT, IN ANYWAY, SHAPE OR FORM OWN THE RIGHTS TO CRIMINAL MINDS. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTFUL OWNERS. Please read and review!

The next two days passed very quickly for the whole BAU team, especially for Emily and J.J. The two women spent their time getting comfortable with pretending to be a couple, as well as learning their new identities that Garcia had come up with.

Emily was still Emily Prentiss, whereas J.J was now known as Jennifer Jareau-Prentiss. J.J had grown up in small, northern North Carolina town. Her family was fairly average; two working class parents, an older brother who went into the family plumbing business and a younger sister who decided to become a stay at home mom when she was a mere 25 years old. Jennifer had attended the University of North Carolina on a soccer scholarship, and was destined to go pro, but an unfortunate accident caused her to tear her Achilles tendon, and benched her indefinitely. Jennifer had decided to become an elementary school teacher and started teaching at a local school about 20 minutes outside of Raleigh. Emily on the other hand came from a very wealthy family; a mother and father who were descendants of the original settlers in North Carolina. Emily had a younger brother who was a lawyer in New York City. Emily had also attended the University of North Carolina as a business major. She and J.J met one day after a soccer game and instantly hit it off. They dated for close to 15 years before Emily proposed to J.J. Jennifer left her job and moved in with Emily, living off the large amount of money that Emily had gained from her parents, as well as her days on Wall Street. The two women eventually went to New York and got married when same sex marriage was legal and settled down in Raleigh.

The night before the women were scheduled to leave, they decided to invite Garcia over to Emily's apartment and have a girl's night in. Emily was in her room attempting to put the last of her shoes in one of the boxes when J.J walked in, dressed in a pair of skinny black jeans, a light pink fitted t-shirt, and to top off the whole look, mismatched orange and green socks. Emily looked down at the socks then up at her best friend, then down at the socks again.

"Umm...what the hell are on your feet Jayje?" Emily asked, a look of pretend disgust on her face. J.J smiled shyly.

"All my other clothes are packed away, and my feet were freezing. They aren't that bad, are they?" the blonde asked, looking at her feet worriedly. Emily quickly got rid of the fake look and walked towards the blonde, pulling her into a hug.

"Aw, no Jayje. I'm just messing with you. You look beautiful in everything." Emily said with a smile. She placed a soft kiss on J.J's cheek, making the other agent blush.

"Wow Em, you certainly know how to charm a lady." A voice said from the doorway. Both agents whipped around, Emily reaching for her gun that sat on the bed.

"Don't shoot! I'm sorry!" Penelope Garcia shrieked from the doorway, throwing her hands up in surrender. Emily sighed and placed her gun back on the bed, putting a hand over her heart.

"Dear god Garcia. You scared the shit out of me! How'd you get in here anyways?" Emily said, leaning on the bed and trying to regain her composure.

"Gumdrop over here let me in. I guess she didn't tell you." Garcia said, referencing J.J who stood by the bed, trying to regulate her breathing. Emily looked at the blonde, who simply smiled.

"That's what I came up here to tell you, but then you went all fashion police on my socks." J.J said, causing the other two agents to laugh.

Grabbing her gun off the bed, Emily followed the two blonde women out of the room and into the kitchen, where Chinese takeout and three total chick flicks were waiting for them.

The women spent the evening lounging around in the living room on the couches, eating Chinese and chatting through the first two movies. When Garcia got up to put their third and final movie in the DVD player, J.J returned from the kitchen and decided to lie down on the couch, pushing her different color feet into Emily's face.

"Jayje, I really do not want your feet in my face." Emily said, scrunching up her nose and pushing the blonde's feet out of her face. J.J frowned, looking at her new 'wife'.

"Well then come here and cuddle with me Emily. I'm cold." She stated, stretching out her arms towards the older profiler. Emily sighed loudly and rolled her eyes, heaving herself off the couch and lying down in front of the blonde woman, casting a look at Garcia. The technology wizard gave the brunette a suggestive look and went to turn off the lights.

As Garcia sat back down in her arm chair next to the other women, J.J wrapped an arm around Emily's ribcage and sighed.

"You know J.J. There are these really cool things called blankets. They help keep you warm. And you know, there is one of those cool things right behind you on the back of the couch." Emily whispered sarcastically, causing Garcia and J.J to both chuckle.

"I know about blankets Emily. I just like this way to warm up much better than a piece of cool fabric." J.J told the other woman. Garcia laughed.

"Well, she got you there Princess." She told her friend. Emily gasped, causing J.J to jump slightly.

"What is it Em?" she asked softly.

"You called me Princess. No one gets to call me Princess except Morgan." Emily said, in mock exasperation.

"No, I'm going to call you Princess if I want to. Princess, princess, princess!" Garcia chanted, daring the feisty brunette to continue the fight.

"Oh PG. I really advise you to stop talking right now." Emily warned, reaching behind her and slowly rolling the light brown blanket into a ball in front of her.

"Make me Princess!" Garcia taunted, the movie playing on the television completely forgotten.

"You asked for it." Emily said slyly. Before Garcia could react, she whipped the balled up blanket at her head. The brown material smacked the colourful woman square in the face, causing all three women to laugh.

"Okay, okay. Truce. I'll never call you princess again." Garcia said, holding her hands up in surrender. Emily high fived J.J with a laugh.

The night continued on pretty much the same way; the three women laughing their way through the evening. Before they knew it, Garcia was on her way back to her apartment and Emily and J.J were lying in Emily's bed.

As the clock struck midnight, J.J rolled over to face Emily, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. The street light shining in through the crack in the curtains cast a light blue glow over the brunette FBI agent, making J.J smile. Emily looked so quiet and restful, something she rarely was these days.

"Stop starring at me Jayje. It's creepy." Emily said quietly, her eyes still closed. J.J frowned to herself. How the hell did know she was starring at her?

"I'm sorry Em. I thought you were asleep." J.J said quietly, taking a hold of Emily's hand in her own. Emily smiled in the darkness.

"And that makes it better how?" she whispered, trying not laugh.

"I apologize deeply for starring at you, Emily Elizabeth Prentiss. I do hope you can forgive me someday soon, my love." J.J told the woman whose hand was intertwined with hers. Emily laughed quietly.

"Apology accepted. Now, let's get some sleep. We have to be up in like seven hours." Emily whispered to the blonde. J.J sighed, and rolled over again, leaning into the warm body in bed next to her. Emily held the blonde agent close, and the two women fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning came quickly, and before the agents knew what was going on, the rest of the team had arrived and loaded all the necessary items into a small U-haul trailer. The team had decided that it would be best if Emily and J.J drove into town together, Garcia and Morgan together, and Hotch, Rossi and Reid would drive in in one of the standard issue FBI SUVs.

"We'll see you two tomorrow, after we get ourselves settled in at our place." Morgan said as Garcia released her grip on Emily. The man hugged J.J, and then pulled Emily into a tight hug. "Will you be okay?" he whispered in her ear. Emily sighed.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." She whispered back, letting go of the other FBI agent. "Well, we will see the two of you soon." Emily told Morgan and Garcia, loud enough for all of the agents to hear this time. Everyone bid their final farewells to J.J and Emily, and then got into their separate cars and started the long drive to Raleigh.

Somewhere during their second hour of driving, Emily's phone rang from its place in the cup holder between the two women. Emily looked at the phone, then up at J.J.

"Can you get that? If it's one of the team, Hotch will have my head on platter for answering my phone while driving." She asked the blonde. J.J laughed softly, and picked up Emily's phone, pressing the talk button and holding it to her ear.

"Hello?" J.J asked.

"Emily, is that you?" an older woman's voice on the other end of the line asked. J.J frowned.

"No, no Emily's busy. This is Jay...Jennifer. Jennifer Jareau. Emily can't come to the phone right now, but may I take a message?" the blonde agent asked the other woman on the phone.

"Yes, Miss Jareau. Tell her that her mother called." The woman said grumpily, hanging up. J.J pulled the phone away from her ear and starred at it for a moment.

"Well that was rude." J.J said.

"Who was it Jayje?" Emily asked quietly, looking at her best friend's far off face in the seat next to her.

"It was your mother..." J.J said quietly. Emily sighed with a roll of her eyes.

"What did she want?" Emily asked the blonde, a slight bitterness in her tone. J.J looked at Emily for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on.

"All she said was to tell you that your mother called. She sounded angry." The agent told the woman who was driving. Emily sighed. "Why is that such a big deal Em?" J.J asked quietly after a minute.

Emily chose not to answer the other woman's question. She couldn't answer it without letting the truth out. About how she liked women, not men liked J.J assumed. When Emily was 14 and living in Rome, before the whole abortion incident (which she had not told anyone about since telling Rossi), she had her first crush on a girl in her school. Well, you could call it a crush...but it was more like a tidal wave of emotions that hit Emily like a brick wall. The girl's name was Isabella Lombardo, and she was in Emily's math and science classes. To Emily, Isabella, or 'Bella' as everyone called her, was god's gift to earth. Anything and everything Bella did was perfect in Emily's eyes.

The unfortunate part of this crush was that Bella liked Emily too. To most people, that was good thing. But that terrified Emily. Emily had no idea as to what these feelings could mean for her future, especially with her mother. It was a well known fact that Elizabeth Prentiss was a bit of a homophobe. Emily and Bella dated in secret for about 5 months, and those 5 months were the best of her life.

By the time the girls' sixth month anniversary rolled around, they decided that it was time they tell Emily's mother. Well, rather Emily tell her mother about her secret girlfriend. And so, later that same day, Emily uttered the words "I'm gay" to her mother in the privacy of her mother's office. Emily's hands shook, her palms sweated, and she swore that someone had raised the temperature in the room by at least 10 degrees.

At first, her mother didn't say anything, she just starred at Emily. Her lips were in a tight line, and her eyes had a look of seriousness in them, something that was rarely unseen with the Ambassador. Just as Emily turned to leave the room, Elizabeth stopped her. When Emily turned around, she was met with a sharp slap across the face. The teen refused to cry, but she held her cheek in pain as it began to burn. Elizabeth then proceeded to yell at her for quite some time about how Emily was not gay, and that she should be ashamed of even thinking that. Elizabeth told Emily that no daughter of hers was a 'homosexual' as she put it ever so nicely, and told the teen that whatever was going on between her and that 'Bella girl' was to stop immediately, or Emily would have to find another place to live.

And so Emily broke up with Bella on the eve of their seventh month anniversary. Bella said she understood why Emily did what she did, but that didn't stop Emily from hating herself for it. And of course, that sent Emily into a pit of darkness and despair, which is why the abortion secret even existed in the first place.

"Em? Emily? Are you alright? I think you zoned out on me Em." Emily heard J.J's distant voice call, snapping Emily out of her internal rant.

"Hm? Sorry Jayje, I spaced out. What were you saying?" Emily asked. J.J smiled sadly.

"I asked why your mother calling was such a big deal." she told her friend quietly. Emily sighed to herself, thinking of how to word this properly.

"Back when I was about 15, something happened between my mother and I that has never really been resolved." Emily said carefully.

"What happened?" J.J asked, now thoroughly intrigued. Emily sighed for the millionth time that afternoon.

"I can't tell you that Jayje. Not yet. I promise, I will tell you someday. Someday soon, I hope." Emily said quietly. J.J nodded her head and left it at that. She didn't want to pry into Emily's family business. After all, J.J knew what it was like to have some family secrets that you weren't particularly fond of sharing.

The rest of the drive continued on peacefully, the two women making casual conversation with each other. When they finally drove into Raleigh, Emily had J.J text Garcia to get the address of their new house. With some difficulty, Emily managed to find 2753 Chestnut Avenue, the place where she and J.J were to be living.

It was a cute house. A modern day Victorian style, with a covered porch stretching across about half of the house. Garcia had told the women that it was a two bedroom home, fully furnished and ready to live in.

"This house is so cute Em!"J.J exclaimed as Emily parked the U-Haul in front of the nicely manicured lawn. Emily smiled.

"And it's all ours, Jayje. Are you ready for this?" she asked as she turned her car off. J.J nodded.

"I'm ready." She said confidently. With a deep breath, J.J pulled her wedding ring from Will out of her pocket and slid it on her finger on top of the engagement ring. Emily smiled as she stepped out of the car, slinging her purse over her shoulder and pulling the keys out of it.

"You ready, babe?" Emily said with a bit of hesitation. J.J walked around to the other side of the car and took hold of the brunette's hand.

"More than ready honey." She said sweetly, placing a kiss on the brunette's cheek and making the other woman blush. Together, the two women unlocked the door and walked into the house. The sight before them took their breath away. The house was beautiful. The walls were painted a warm, light yellow color, and pictures that were taken by Garcia already hung on the walls, along with a photo shopped picture of their 'wedding' in New York City. Emily wore a white pant suit that synched in at the waist, and J.J wore a long, white sundress that had a sparkly silver belt around the middle.

"This house is amazing honey." J.J said breathlessly. Emily smiled.

"I know it is. This is even better than I expected." She told the woman she was still holding hands with. J.J leaned in and kissed Emily on the lips. The kiss only lasted about 3 seconds, but Emily's head still spun on her shoulders.

Together, the two women unloaded the boxes in the U-Haul and brought them into the house, deciding that they should unpack now rather than later. Emily slowly put all of the women's clothes into the drawers and closets as J.J made the two of them dinner down in the kitchen.

Just as Emily was putting the last of the towels into the hall closet, J.J shouted from downstairs that dinner was ready.

"I'll be down in a second Jayje!" Emily called, pausing for a second to look down at the wedding ring that sat on her finger. It amazed Emily as to how such a small piece of metal and rock could make her so happy and full of joy. Even if it was just an assignment, and nothing more than a lie, this ring made Emily happier than she had ever been.

The two women enjoyed the rest of their evening together, laughing and chatting and eating. By the time night rolled around, they were more than happy to fall into bed together. They fell asleep very quickly, wrapped in each other's arms.

Of course, the next morning came much too quickly. The women were awoken by the ringing of Emily's phone on the bedside table. In the darkness of the bedroom, Emily fumbled blindly for the cell phone. Grabbing a hold of it in her free hand that was intertwined with J.J's, she held it up to her ear.

"Hello?" she said, still in a fog from sleep.

"Good morning!" a chipper Penelope Garcia said. Emily held the phone away from her ear for a moment. J.J opened her eyes and slowly sat up, letting out a big yawn.

"Who is it?" J.J asked quietly, already knowing the answer from the voice echoing out of the phone.

"Garcia, it is eight o'clock in the morning. Can you please take your chipperness down a bit?" Emily asked, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. J.J got up and walked into the bathroom, flicking the light on and shutting the door softly.

"Sorry princess...I mean Emily. I just had to call you to tell you that Morgan was going to be over in about half an hour. Remember, he's a free lance contractor here. He's supposed to be talking to you about a pool you want put in, but he's got some new information about the couples." Garcia told Emily, in a slightly quieter tone.

"Alright. Thanks for the heads up PG." Emily said as J.J came out of the bathroom and walked out into the hall.

"No problem gumdrop. Garcia out." Garcia said happily, hanging up the phone. Emily proceeded to head to the bathroom, change into a blue t-shirt and a pair of dark wash jeans, and then joined her new wife in the kitchen. J.J handed Emily a cup of coffee as she walked into the kitchen.

"What did PG want?" J.J asked, taking a sip of her coffee. Emily sighed.

"Morgan's on his way over. He's got some new details about the couples." She told the blonde. J.J nodded.

"Okay. Well, I'll go get changed then." J.J told Emily as she headed up the stairs. Emily sighed, leaning up against the counter. She had a feeling today was going to be a long day.

A/N: I hope you liked it! I know we didn't talk about J.J's abuse in this chapter, but it will be in the next one. Promise. I'm off to camp tomorrow morning for a week, so don't expect an update for at least two weeks. Please review! They really do help we work faster!


	9. St Paul's

A/N: So here's chapter 9. It's a little short, but I felt bad that I hadn't updated it in a while. Thank you so much for all the follows and reviews! They really do make my day. And, as I always say, I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO CRIMINAL MINDS. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTFUL OWNERS. Because if I did own them, Jemily would be real and they would be living happily ever after together. Please read and review! Enjoy!

"Hey Morgan. Come on in." J.J said as she opened the front door, greeted by the smiling face of Derek Morgan. "Emily's just upstairs getting changed...again." she continued with a role of her eyes. Morgan smiled as he shut the front door behind him.

"Oh, you gotta love Princess." He said, causing both of the agents to laugh. Emily came down the stairs, this time clad in a grey zip up sweater and the jeans that she had been wearing earlier.

"What's so funny you two?" she asked the hysterical agents, having heard their whole conversation from the top of the staircase.

"Oh, nothing important Princess." Morgan said, trying to control his laughter. Emily simply rolled her eyes and shook her head at the agents, walking into the kitchen and pouring herself a third cup of coffee.

"You want a coffee Morgan?" she asked as the other two walked into the kitchen, taking seats at the breakfast bar. Morgan waved her off, having already had his own three cups before coming over.

"So Garcia said you had new information about the couples?" J.J asked, breaking the silence that had fallen upon the kitchen. Morgan nodded, pulling out a file from his bag.

"Yeah. Turns out that all of the couples went to a church in town...uh, St. Paul's, I believe. The rest of the team believe that we are looking for a white male, in his mid to late thirties. He would be attending this church alone, and most likely had a bad experience with lesbians." He paused, casting a quick look at Emily who averted her eyes to her coffee. "Possibly an ex-girlfriend or wife that announced she was leaving him for a woman. Something that triggered this rage and hatred for lesbians. As well, look out for someone who is overly confident in himself. These killings are vicious and extensive, not quick and meant to be over with quickly. It is clear he wanted these women to suffer." Morgan finished, leaving the women in a stunned silence for a moment. No matter how long they worked at it, this job never got any easier.

"So I'm guessing we will be headed to church tomorrow morning?" J.J asked with a chuckle. Morgan nodded, handing the blonde woman another folder, containing information about the church.

"Great. Catholics. And just when thought I was done with this freaking religion." Emily said, rolling her eyes with a sigh. J.J raised an eyebrow at her best friend, casting a sideways look at her.

"Woah, clearly you have some issues with the catholic church...what happened?" she asked quietly, stretching a hand out towards the other woman. Emily jerked her hand away. She wasn't going to lie, the action hurt J.J.

Given the tension between the two women, Morgan took this as his invitation to leave.

"Okay, well I'm going to head out back and take those measurements for a pool, and then get out of your hair. If you two need anything, here's my business card. All calls go directly to Garcia." He said, standing up from his seat and walking towards the back door. "Oh, and Prentiss. It's a Christian church. Don't asked me why they chose to name it after a saint." He said before walking out the backdoor.

Emily sighed, feeling like a complete jerk about how she had reacted, especially towards the blonde woman who was starring at her hands intently.

"Jayje...I'm sorry for how I reacted. You must think I'm a total jerk." She apologized, grabbing hold of one of J.J's hands. The blonde couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Not a total jerk. Just two thirds of one." She said with a laugh. Emily gasped, feigning hurt.

"Jennifer Jareau. That is so rude!" she said, playfully slapping the blonde on the arm. Both women laughed. The blonde walked around the counter and wrapped her arms around the older woman, holding her close.

"Seriously though Emily. What's with all the hate towards the Catholic church?" J.J whispered quietly. Emily sighed, fighting internally with herself for a moment. On one hand, she wanted to let her best friend know about Matthew, John and her abortion. But on the other hand, she wasn't sure if she was ready for the blonde to know one of her deepest, darkest secrets. With a sigh, she let go of J.J and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"You may want to sit down, Jayje." Emily said, causing J.J to take a seat on one of the bar stools and grab Emily's hands in hers'.

With a lot of hesitation, and quite a few tears from both of the women, Emily told J.J the whole story of her abortion, including how Matthew, who had fallen victim of the exorcism case, had truly saved her life. She conveniently left out the part of why she had slept with John in the first place...J.J didn't need to know everything yet. When the story was done, the blonde woman slowly stood up from her seat and walked around to where the dark haired woman was standing. J.J pulled the older woman into a tight hug, holding her close to her as Emily sobbed into J.J's shoulder.

The blonde carefully lead Emily over to the couch so the two could be more comfortable. As Emily continued to cry into J.J's shoulder, the blonde realized that Emily hadn't told many people, or any at all, judging by the way she was reacting. Seeing her best friend like this broke her heart. She thought this must have been what Emily felt like when she found out about Will's abuse. Even though they had only known each other for a little over 5 years, they were each other's people. Emily was J.J's person, and J.J was Emily's. No matter how hard their job or their life, they were always there for each other.

Which was why J.J chose to let Emily cry it out on her shoulder and wait to tell her about the call that she had gotten about an hour ago from Hotch. They had gotten their warrant to arrest Will; the judge having moved it to the top of the pile after seeing it was one of D.C's finest FBI agents involved. The FBI had personally sent over two members of their team to arrest him at the house. But he wasn't there. He wasn't at his friends' houses either. No one knew where he was, which terrified J.J. Will knew they were in Raleigh. It wouldn't be that hard to find them and hurt (or maybe even kill) one or both of them. A bolo was put out for his arrest, but so far no luck. Hotch promised to call J.J as soon as he heard anything about it.

"Shh, Em. It's alright. You're okay now. Alright? That part of your life is over and done with. You're going to be okay." J.J whispered soothingly, rubbing the brunette's back softly. Emily's sobs began to slow down until they were no more than a few tears trickling down her cheeks, and she got up off of J.J's shoulder, wincing at the large tear stain on the blue t-shirt. That wasn't about to come out any time soon.

"I'm sorry for doing this Jayje." Emily apologized, wiping away the stray tears. J.J placed a kiss on the brunette's head.

"Don't ever apologize for crying Em. I'm sorry it was so hard for you to tell me. Does...does anyone else know?" J.J asked, thinking she already knew the answer. Which is why she was so surprised when Emily nodded her head against her shoulder.

"I...I told Rossi back when Matthew died...he's the only other person who knows." She told J.J quietly. The blonde pulled the other woman in close to her, the two of them sitting comfortably on the couch, J.J silently comforting Emily.

The women's day continued on relevantly uneventful, with a call from Garcia around 7 o'clock that night to check in on her sunshine and gumdrop. Before they knew it, the two women were standing in front of the closet the next morning, trying to figure out what to wear to church.

"So what does one wear to church?" J.J asked, starring at her side of the closet as Emily zipped up a dark grey pencil skirt, tucking in the light pink blouse.

"Well, you're a retired school teacher. A dress, probably." Emily said as she pulled on a pair of short, black heels and walked into the bathroom to apply light makeup, like she had all those times when attending church with her mother as a child.

When she walked out of the bathroom, she found J.J putting on a pair of light blue flats that matched the dress she was wearing. The dress looked stunning on J.J; it cinched in around her ribs and then flared out down to about her knees. Completing the look with a white cardigan to hide her bruises on her arms, she spun in a circle in front of her wife.

"Well, how do I look?" she asked with a smile. Emily couldn't help but notice how the shade of blue made J.J's eyes pop.

"Wonderful Jayje. Now let's get a move on. The service starts in half an hour." Emily said, walking out the bedroom but stopping in the doorway when she saw what J.J was putting in her purse; her glock and badge. "Jen? What are doing with the gun?" she asked cautiously, having been told about Will being MIA.

"Protection. No one's going to see it. Now come on, we don't want to be late for church, do we?" J.J asked with an innocent smile, walking past Emily and going downstairs to grab a travel mug of coffee. With a smile and shake of her head, Emily followed J.J downstairs.

After the service, the women stood out front of the chapel, watching people come and go. They had noticed a few men that fit the profile; four to be exact. But then again, the men could have just been cocky. Emily had met more than a few religious men who were full of themselves.

"Hello. Are you two new in town?" a woman in her late twenties asked, snapping the women out of their daze. The profilers immediately noticed things about the woman that not everyone would notice. Yes, she was around 28 years old, with dirty blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail and kind, gray eyes. But she seemed to be nervous about something; like someone was watching her.

"Oh yes, we just moved in a few days ago. I'm Jennifer, and this is my wife Emily." J.J said, shaking the woman's hand.

"I'm Sophie. I just wanted to welcome you to Raleigh. If you feel like it, my boyfriend and I would love to have you two over for a coffee sometime. If you drink coffee." The woman, Sophie said. J.J and Emily smiled.

"Are you kidding me? My blood is half coffee! We'd love to." Emily said with a laugh. Sophie pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket.

"Well, give us a call sometime." She said, handing J.J the paper. J.J read it over and showed it to Emily. The paper had two names written on it; Sophie and Robert Hastings.

"Where is your boyfriend?" Emily asked casually, wondering if Robert was at church or not.

"Oh, he's right over there." Sophie explained, pointing to a man who was standing with a few other men by the parking lot. He was a white male, around 35 years old with dark brown hair and hard, chiselled features. And god, did he come off as arrogant; from the way he held himself to the way he used hand gestures.

As Sophie said her goodbyes and walked away, Emily and J.J looked at each other, thinking the same thing. They may have just found their unsub.

A/N: Sorry for it being short, but I'm going on vacation for a week and I wanted to update before I left. Please review!


	10. Kidnappings

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites guys. They seriously mean the world to me! So, I wanted this chapter to be a bit longer, but as of tomorrow morning I won't have Internet for at least a week, so I thought you guys deserved an update. And as I always say, I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO CRIMINAL MINDS. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTFUL OWNERS. Please read and review. Enjoy!

"Yes, Morgan. I know you just gave us the profile. But I swear to you-"Emily said exasperatedly on the phone. She paused; looking around the parking lot to make sure no one was paying her any attention. J.J had parked the car at the back of the church parking lot, allowing Emily the chance to call Garcia and Morgan before she got distracted with their potential unsub. Most of the congregation had left; including Sophie and Robert.

"Robert Hastings fits the profile to a tee. J.J and I will look farther into it, but I need you to let the rest of the team know about him, including Garcia. Have her run background checks; see if he came into contact with our victims. Please Morgan, you have to trust me on this one." She almost pleaded with the man on the other end of the phone.

"Alright Princess. I'll let the rest of the team know. Stay safe, and say hi to-"Morgan was cut off by Garcia ripping the phone out of his hand. Emily couldn't help but laugh at the scuffling on the other end. J.J cast a sideways look at the woman sitting in the seat next to her.

"Morgan, give me the phone!" Garcia exclaimed, more scuffling filling Emily's ear.

"Garcia, if you give it a minute, you can have it." Morgan pleaded, followed by the sound of a smack. "Ow, baby girl. Give me a minute." He continued, making Emily laugh at the fact that the technical analyst had hit Morgan.

"What's so funny?" J.J asked, a little nervously. Emily smiled and covered the phone with her hand.

"Garcia and Morgan are fighting over the phone. Garcia totally just slapped Morgan." She explained, causing both agents to laugh.

"Tell them to put the phone on speaker." J.J said semi-quietly, Emily repeating J.J's words into the phone. Eventually, the scuffling died down and the phone was put on to speaker. Before Emily could say anything else, J.J held her hand out for the phone. The brunette passed the phone to the blonde woman with a smile.

"PG, I thought we went over this. You can't hit Morgan when you don't get your way!" J.J exclaimed, an amused undertone in her voice. Emily gestured for her to put it on speaker, which she did. The car was filled with the sound of Penelope Garcia's voice.

"Oh thank heavens you're still alive." She said, causing the two women in the car to look at each other.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Emily asked carefully, confused as to why Garcia would think they were dead after only possibly seeing their unsub, at a church, of all places.

"That's not important right now. How are my second favourite blonde FBI agent and my raven haired beauty doing?" Garcia said quickly, her tone becoming much cheerier. J.J looked at Emily and smiled.

"We're good PG. Why am I your second favourite blonde FBI agent? Who's your first? Last time I checked, Morgan wasn't blonde." She said with a laugh. Emily laughed quietly to herself.

"Oh, my beautiful sunshine. If you have to ask, I think I need to reconsider our friendship...but anyways. How was your first ever church service?" Garcia asked, causing J.J to gasp in mock exasperation, and then laugh.

"It was just as magical as I thought it would be." She said sarcastically. Emily laughed loudly, glancing out her passenger window. A black car that sat idling across the street caught Emily's attention, making her stretch out a hand and tap J.J on the arm.

"What?" the blonde asked lightly, still laughing from Morgan's witty response in the background. Emily carefully pointed to the car across the road. J.J stopped laughing immediately and took the phone off speaker. "Garcia, I need you to run a plate, and call us back when you get the results." She said. There was a pause, Garcia clearly speaking on the other end, but not loud enough for Emily to hear it. "Okay. T5G, 8P3. Yep. Okay. I have to go. Tell the rest of the team. Bye." J.J said quickly, hanging up the phone and putting it in the cup holder next to her.

"Did you see who got into that car, Em?" she whispered quietly, looking discreetly out her window at the car. Emily shook her head.

"No, there were a lot of cars here earlier...I wasn't really paying attention. Let's go out for lunch, Jay. We need to make them think we weren't doing anything." Emily told her. J.J started the car and drove out of the parking lot, downtown towards a sandwich shop they had been told about by some of the members at church.

When they got out of the car, Emily gripped J.J's hand in hers as J.J gave Emily a quick peck on the cheek. The black car hadn't followed them, or as far as they knew, but if they somehow had, they needed to pass this off as a real relationship.

Inside the shop, they each ordered their lunch and took a seat at a table in the back of the restaurant. Emily insisted on taking the seat against the wall, so she could see the front door. J.J complied, taking a seat across from her best friend. As they ate their sandwiches in a peaceful silence, Emily's phone buzzed in her purse. Looking around the shop, she pushed the talk button on the phone.

"Emily Prentiss speaking." She said casually, hoping that she was passing this call off as ordinary.

"Okay, my raven haired beauty. I'm afraid I have some bad news. That car isn't registered to your guy." Garcia said, twirling a pink pen between her fingers.

"Then who's is it?" Emily asked quietly as J.J gave her a questioning look. The brunette waved her hand, silently telling J.J to wait.

"It's registered to a Joseph Tyler. It appears he also attends church with the victims. And get this. Our friend Joseph here just went through a horrible divorce. Wife left him a little over a year ago for a woman, named Georgia Patterson. They're married now, and raising Joseph's sons, George and Mark, together." Garcia explained. Emily sighed. This case just got so much more complicated.

"Alright. Let the others know about both of them. Call me later if you find out more. Bye" Emily said, hanging up the phone and taking a bite of her sandwich.

The women ate their lunch peacefully, laughing and chatting about random things, mostly want they 'wanted to do' in Raleigh now that they were permanent fixtures of the city. They both understood the silent agreement they had made to not speak about what had just happened on the phone while in public.

"Where to now, Em?" J.J asked as she took hold of Emily's hand in hers. Together, they walked out of the shop into the blistering summer heat of Raleigh. Emily looked around and saw a park across the street.

"Want to go for a walk in the park? It would be a shame to waist a nice Sunday afternoon like this." Emily told J.J. The blonde agent nodded and together they walked across the street and into a park about the size of two, maybe three city blocks. They spent the better part of the afternoon strolling through the park, laughing and talking and enjoying each other's company.

It was nearing five o'clock when they pulled into their driveway; tired yet happy from their day out in Raleigh. When they walked in the door, J.J headed upstairs to change out of her dress as Emily pulled out her phone to call Garcia and Morgan. The phone rang once, twice, three, four times and then went to voice mail.

"You've reached Morgan Contracting. I can't come to the phone, but leave a message and I'll give you a call back real soon." Morgan's voice said, ending with a beep.

"It's me. Call me back when you can. I want to see how the plans are coming along." Emily said, refusing to put too much information into the message, in case someone decided to listen to the messages. Hanging up, she moved to start dinner when J.J walked in on her phone.

"Yeah, that sounds great." She paused as the other person spoke. "Yep. We'll see you next Sunday then. Bye bye." The blonde said with a smile, hanging up the phone and putting it in the back pocket of her jeans. "Me or you first?" she asked the other profiler. Emily smiled and gestured to the blonde, allowing her to speak first.

"Okay. So I just got off the phone with Sophie. We have a double date with them after church next Sunday. Coffee at their house." She explained. Emily nodded, reaching into the fridge and pulling out chicken breasts and some carrots.

"That's good, Jay. Help me with dinner?" she asked, passing the blonde a pot and the carrots. J.J complied, going to fill the pot with water. "So, I called Morgan to check in on things and the phone went to voicemail." Emily said, putting the chicken into a pan, and then placing it in the oven.

"Okay. So, what did Garcia say when she called you?" J.J asked as she placed the carrots on the stove top and moved to put the pot of potatoes on the stove as well. Emily explained everything that Garcia had told her as the two women waited for dinner to be ready.

"So do we think Robert is our unsub, or is it this Joseph guy?" J.J asked later that evening over coffee on the front porch. Emily sighed with a shake of her head.

"I don't know. All signs point to Joseph, but I can't shake this feeling that Robert has something to do with it. The way Sophie acted when she talked to us, that, that was fear in her voice J.J. I'm not sure of what exactly, but I'm willing to bet half my monthly paycheque it's Robert." Emily answered, playing with J.J's feet that the blonde had placed in her lap. J.J giggled as Emily tickled her feet.

"I know Em. That's why I called Sophie and set up the coffee date next Sunday. If anything suspicious is going on with them, we'll see it on Sunday." The blonde agent told her best friend. Emily smiled and reached for the blonde, pulling her into her lap. J.J rested her head on Emily's lap and smiled, pulling the brunette down to kiss her on the lips.

The kiss lasted longer than others; maybe 5 or 6 seconds. It made Emily see stars. When the women pulled away from each other, Emily smiled down at the woman in her lap. J.J smiled and let out a giggle.

"Wow Em. Where'd you learn to kiss like that?" she asked the woman quietly, starring up at her. Emily laughed quietly.

"Wouldn't you love to know? See, I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." She told the blonde with a wink. J.J laughed and grabbed a hold of Emily's hands in hers'.

"Ha, like you would Prentiss. You love me too much to ever hurt me." J.J said with a smirk, looking across the street at some passersby. Emily couldn't help but smile at the irony in J.J's comment. J.J had no idea how smitten Emily was with her. No idea at all.

The next six days passed fairly quickly, with Morgan stopping in twice to relay information and check in on the women. J.J and Emily had gotten along great in that time; no arguments or anything, which surprised the team. Emily and J.J were best friends, but they also both had very strong opinions and were both a little pig headed at times, making the team sceptical if they could get through this assignment without fighting.

The team had narrowed their unsub possibility down to either Joseph Tyler or Robert Hastings. Both men attended St. Paul's with the couples that were murdered, and both had gone through a break up with a woman who left him for another woman. This seemed incredibly odd, that two men had similar break ups at the same church. And the fact that so many lesbian couples had attended the church also caused the team to question what was going on; sure, the church was accepting and welcomed anyone willing to practice the Christian faith, but six, well now seven, lesbian couples in a congregation of less than 100 was just plain odd.

Joseph worked for a cell phone company in the city that two of the three dead couples got their service from, and Robert worked at a hospital on the outskirts of town, with Tatiana McKinney, half of the first couple that was murdered by their unsub.

Given this information, the team, even Reid, were confused on how to proceed. They'd never had a case that had two potential unsubs, but clearly showed the work of one man and one man only. All signs did point to Joseph; he went to the same church as the victims, provided cell service to two of the three couples, and went through a brutal breakup with a woman who announced she was a lesbian and proceeded to raise his sons with another woman. But Emily just couldn't shake the feeling that it was Robert.

Before the women knew it, they were once again standing in front of their closet Sunday morning, deciding what to wear to church. J.J reached for two blouses.

"Which one, Em? This one," the blonde paused and held up a light pink blouse. "Or this one?" she asked, holding up a white blouse with light gray lines running through it. Emily thought about it for a moment, and then pointed at the blouse in the blonde's left hand.

"Go with the pink." Emily told the other woman as she zipped up a black pencil skirt, tucking in her charcoal gray blouse into it and slipping on a pair of 3-inch black heels. J.J pulled on the blouse and tucked it into her the top of her gray skirt, and pulling on the matching blazer. She slid on a pair of light pink pumps that made her the same height as Emily, even in the heels she was wearing.

"J.J, why are you wearing those heels to church?" Emily asked, eyeing the blonde as she put her earrings in. J.J shrugged, pulling her hair up, holding it in place with a large, light pink clip.

"It's the only thing that matches. Plus, I look great." J.J said with a smile, spinning in a little circle. Emily couldn't help but chuckle at the blonde.

"Well, Jennifer Jareau, at least you aren't vain" she told her best friend with a smirk, jumping out of the way of JJ's attempted smack.

Later that day, after a thrilling service about how Christ was their lord and saviour (Emily tried very hard to hide her laughter, which she luckily succeeded at), Emily and J.J were following Sophie and Robert back to their house for lunch and coffee.

"You okay with doing this Em?" J.J asked, glancing over at the brunette in the driver's seat who couldn't stop fidgeting her hands on the steering wheel. Emily gave the blonde a shaky smile. She wasn't sure if she was, to be honest. The agent just couldn't shake the feeling that Robert was their unsub, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to see something like that. But, in true Prentiss fashion, Emily steeled her nerves and pushed her feelings into one of those little boxes in her head.

"Yeah Jay. I'm fine." She told the blonde. J.J cast a weary look at her best friend, but decided to leave it at that. They didn't have the time for that conversation right now.

When Emily and J.J pulled into their potential unsub's driveway, their profiling skills went into overdrive. They began to take in every little detail; from the way the windows in the basement were covered with bushes, to the way the mail box's paint was slowly peeling off. The house wasn't bad; it was a pretty nice place. A two bedroom split level ranch with a pool in the back and a big shady oak covering a good part of the yard.

The inside of the house was nice too. No peeling paint, or lots of dirty dishes, or any sign of clutter what so ever. There were no visible signs that a serial rapist/killer lived there; well from the parts Sophie showed them anyways. The basement was off limits, because apparently there wasn't anything down there but some boxes full of Christmas decorations and an old couch they had been meaning to take to the dump. As the two agents followed Sophie into the kitchen to help prepare lunch, they exchanged a brief look. Maybe they were wrong about Robert after all.

"So, what do you two do for a living?" Sophie asked Emily and J.J as the four of them sat in the living room, talking over coffee. J.J smiled and took a sip of her coffee, placing it in her lap.

"I used to teach second grade, but when Emily and I got married I decided to retire early." She explained, resting her head on the brunette's shoulder. Emily smiled slightly.

"And I used to work on Wall Street. Now I just spend my time with Jennifer." She said, causing J.J to laugh quietly as she raised her mug to take another sip. "What do you two do?" Emily asked casually. Robert cleared his throat.

"I work for a cell phone company, Logitech Institutes." He told the women, a proud undertone to the statement. Emily and J.J noticed it, and couldn't help but question why someone would be so proud of working at a cell phone company. Even top ranking FBI agents weren't that proud of their jobs, and they actually had a reason to be. Of course, neither of them mentioned anything.

"And I am a nurse at Grace Hospital." Sophie told them with a slight smile.

"Really? I always wanted to be a nurse when I was younger. What do you work in?" J.J asked, trying to keep the conversation going. Emily took this as a signal to try and go have a look in the basement of the house. Before Sophie could say anything, Emily gently pushed J.J off her shoulder and sat up straighter.

"Sorry to interrupt, but did I happen to see a bathroom on the tour? I can't seem to hold my coffee like I used to." She asked with a laugh. Sophie nodded and gestured to the bathroom in the back by the kitchen, next to the door that went downstairs. With a grateful nod, Emily stood from her seat and walked into the kitchen towards the bathroom. With a look over her shoulder, she made sure no one had followed her, or could see her for that matter.

With a solid thud, Emily shut the bathroom door, to make it look like she was in there, then ever so quietly pushed open the door to the basement and was met with the unmistakeable smell of death and decay. It took everything Emily had to continue farther into the basement, but with the smell, she had to.

Slowly she walked down the wooden stairs, praying nothing would creak or snap and give away her location. Emily turned her phone on when she reached the bottom of the steps and shone the light around the dimly lit, putrid smelling basement.

In the far corner sat two sets of shackles; hands and feet, which were drilled into the stone wall. An old, wooden table sat in the middle of the cold room. A series of knives were laid out in perfect precision on a smaller table to the side. The floor was stained with what looked to be blood. A cabin with a padlock sat against the wall next to the staircase. Emily couldn't believe her eyes. She had found the unsub's lair.

Quickly, she shut her phone off and made her way back up the stairs and eased open the door to the kitchen, praying no one was in there. Luckily, no one was, and Emily slid into the bathroom, flushed the toilet and washed her hands. She walked out into the living and put on her fake smile. Taking a seat next to J.J, she wrapped an arm the blonde and placed a kiss on her head.

"Em, we were just talking about how every year, Raleigh has this big summer festival downtown. Its next weekend, and Sophie and Robert were wondering if we wanted to go with them. What do you say?" the blonde asked her best friend, attempting to search her eyes for some sort of clue as to what Emily found. But of course, the brunette wasn't letting anything out.

"Sure. That sounds like fun." Emily said with a smile towards the three other people. They continued to chat about random things for another few hours, until Emily couldn't stand it any longer and had to make up the excuse that she was supposed to call her mother soon.

"Well, it was lovely of you two to stop by. I guess we'll see you next weekend then?" Sophie asked, giving J.J a little hug, followed by Emily. Robert stood by the porch, refusing to say goodbye for whatever reason.

"Definitely. Thank you for having us." J.J said as she got into the passenger seat. With a wave, the two women backed out of the drive way and drove down the road, back towards their own house. It was at least ten minutes before Emily told J.J everything she had seen in the basement. J.J was left speechless. She couldn't believe that Sophie, who seemed so nice, was part of that horrible man's scheme.

When they got back to the house, Emily called Morgan and told him what they had found in the basement as J.J went to go lie down for a bit. The blonde wasn't feeling very well after learning these new developments.

"I can't believe we didn't see it. Good thing we have you on the team, Princess." Morgan told Emily over the phone. The brunette smiled.

"Why thank you Morgan" Emily said, pausing as she heard running footsteps upstairs. "I got to go. I'll call you later." She told Morgan, shutting the phone off and running up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

The brunette arrived in the bedroom to find J.J hunched over the toilet, dry heaving. Emily rushed over to the blonde and pulled her hair back out of her face. Rubbing soothing circles on the blonde's back, Emily whispered to J.J.

"It's alright J.J. You'll be okay." Over and over until J.J reached up and flushed the toilet, leaning back into her best friend.

"I don't know what got into me." The blonde whispered. With Emily's help, she stood up and brushed her teeth, then joined her best friend in bed. Emily pulled the other woman into her and held her tightly as J.J let the tears fall.

"I'm sorry for doing this Em." J.J said as she wiped away the tears. "Just, all this with Will and the assignment...I...I just...I need a minute." She cried. Emily pulled the upset woman as close as she could and kissed her lightly on the top of the head.

"It's alright Jayje. You're allowed to breakdown. Just let it out. They're going to catch Will, alright? They're going to catch that bastard and then he's never going to hurt you or anyone else ever again." She whispered to the crying blonde. The women remained that way for a long time, until both J.J and Emily drifted off to sleep.

Emily awoke about six hours later, noticing that she was still in her church clothes and J.J was still wrapped up in her arms. Quietly, Emily eased her arms out from the blonde's grasp and slid off the bed, pulling on a pair of old jeans and a hoodie she found on the floor of the closet. With one last glance back at the blonde, she walked downstairs and took a seat on the front porch. She had a lot on her mind that she needed to clear up. A moving figure in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and before she even had a chance to scream, a sweet smelling cloth was clamped over her nose and mouth. The world slowly faded to black.

J.J noticed the cold spot in the bed next to her and reluctantly opened her eyes. She drowsily looked around the room for Emily. With the brunette nowhere in sight, J.J got off the bed with a sigh and went downstairs to go look for her best friend. She really needed to talk to someone.

The blonde looked all around the house, even on the front porch and in the back yard. When she couldn't find Emily, she tried her cell. Maybe she had gone for a walk or something.

"C'mon, pick up, pick up!" J.J said, bouncing up and down. She began to grow very worried when she heard Emily's phone ring upstairs. What if Will had her? Or worse, Robert? Without thinking twice, she dialled the first number that came to mind.

A/N: So, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Next chapter will have Emily waking up in our unsub's lair, and we'll find out who J.J was calling. I'll try and post as soon as I can, but as I said before, I won't have internet for at least a week. Please review!


	11. In The Lair

A/N: So, it's pretty short, but you all deserved an update. I promise to update again soon. As I always say, I DON'T OWN THE RIGHTS TO CRIMINAL MINDS. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTFUL OWNERS. JUST A BORED AUTHOR USING THE CHARACTERS FOR PURE LOVE OF THE SHOW. Please read and review. Enjoy!

Dark. It's dark. That's the first thing that Emily Prentiss saw when she opened her eyes sometime later that morning...or evening...she wasn't really sure what time it was. Slowly, the brunette's head became less foggy and she took in her surroundings. She...she was in a dark room. It was big. Bigger than her living room. The room...it was cold and it smelled really bad. Like blood, and dirt, and rotting flesh. The smell made her stomach churn. It reminded her of somewhere she had been recently...someone's basement, she thought.

God. What had this person given her? She felt weak and helpless, and Emily didn't like that feeling. She attempted to move her right arm, but sighed exasperatedly when she found it to be chained to the floor. The brunette, her head still foggy, pulled at the chains that were locked tightly around her wrists and ankles for what seemed like forever; she eventually gave up when she felt the chains rub against raw, bleeding flesh. The pain seared through her wrists and ankles and up her arms and legs, and mixed with the drugs still in her system, Emily's world once again faded to black, her head leaning against, the cold, stone wall.

"J.J? Why are you calling me at...two in the morning?" SSA Aaron Hotchner asked groggily, pausing to check the time on his cellphone. He immediately got out of the hotel bed and began to get dressed, preparing to go to the police station or wherever they needed him.

"I'm sorry I called you...I just didn't know who else to call. I know I'm probably ruining the case here, but I just didn't know what to do." J.J rambled on the other end.

"J.J...J.J. Calm down. What's wrong?" Hotch asked, attempting to calm the hysteric woman down.

"It's Emily. Hotch...I fell asleep and when I woke up...she was gone. I've looked everywhere and she doesn't have her phone and I...I think Will has her. Or Robert. I don't know. Just please, we have to find her. Either way they'll kill her!" J.J cried, her voice teetering on the edge of hysterics.

"Okay, J.J. Calm down. I need you to get in the car and drive to the police station. I'll meet you there. Are you okay to drive?" Hotch asked, already striding towards Rossi and Reid's hotel rooms that were across the hall. Holding the phone between his ear and shoulder, he knocked on both doors. "Reid. Rossi. We need to go. Now. It's Prentiss." Hotch told the two men. Much scuffling was heard from behind the doors as J.J answered.

"Yeah...I'll be fine. Please, just hurry Hotch. If anything happens to her...I'll never forgive myself." J.J cried, hanging up the phone and running to the car parked in the driveway, throwing her purse on the passenger seat and backing out of the driveway, driving as quickly as she could to the police station.

Back at the hotel, Reid opened his door just as Hotch put his phone in his pocket. As soon as Hotch had mentioned Emily, Reid scrambled to get dressed. He wasn't about to let Emily get hurt again like she did with Doyle. He had just gotten Emily back. He wasn't going to let her die.

Rossi's door flew open shortly after, the older man stepping out and almost colliding with Hotch. He too had flown out of bed when he heard Emily's name. The woman was like a daughter to him, and it made him sick to think that something had happened to her.

"J.J just called. She said Emily's gone, and she doesn't have her phone. She thinks Robert or Will may have taken her. We need to get down to the station." Hotch explained as the men walked down the hall towards the elevator. As they stepped into the elevator, all 3 of the men sent up a silent prayer that they would find Emily in time.

The next time Emily woke up, she felt much colder than before. Looking down, she saw someone had removed her of her clothes, leaving her in nothing but her bra and underwear. She could tell she was still in that cold, dark, putrid smelling basement, but she was…colder now. Her head throbbed from the drugs that had been given to her, and her body ached from the hard floor she lay on. Emily's eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, and she almost screamed out when she realized where she was. She was in Robert Hastings' basement. And she wasn't alone.

Jennifer Jareau whipped into the Raleigh Police Department parking lot, pulling into a spot and throwing the car in park. She ran into the building and collided with Morgan, who was standing just inside the front door, waiting for the blonde.

J.J staggered back and held her head in her hand, having hit it extremely hard off of Morgan's shoulder.

"Whoa there sunshine. Hotch called Garcia and I. How you holding up?" he asked the woman, pulling her into a hug as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"Oh Derek. We have to find her. I can't lose her…I can't." she cried into the tall man's chest. Morgan nodded sadly, pulling her away from him and inspecting her head. A large red spot was forming on her forehead, right where it had collided with his shoulder.

"I know Jayje. And we will. Right after we get some ice for that head of yours." Morgan reassured the woman, wrapping an arm around the blonde FBI agent and leading her to the small kitchen that sat in the back of the station. He placed several ice cubes inside a Ziploc bag he found and passed to the upset woman, who gratefully held it to her throbbing head.

Together, the two agents walked into the conference room that the team had taken over, and were greeted with the grim faces of four other agents. Emily was like a sister (or daughter, in Rossi's case) to the team, and they refused to let her die because of them.

"Oh J.J" Garcia exclaimed as the other blonde walked into the room, rushing over and pulling her into a tight hug. "What happened to your head?"she asked as she pulled away and noticed the ice pack being held to J.J's forehead.

"Morgan's shoulder happened." J.J said bitterly. Garcia shot Morgan a glare that made the tall man back away from his friend. He wasn't about to mess with Penelope Garcia at two in the morning with their best friend in the presence of a possible serial killer. J.J noticed this and held up a hand, calming down the colourful woman. "No, it was completely my fault. Wasn't looking where I was going." She explained as Morgan let out a sigh.

"Okay. Now that we're all here, we need to map out the possibilities. J.J, you said Robert Hastings is a possibility, correct?" Hotch asked, gaining the attention of his team. The blonde woman nodded her head.

"And William LaMontagne." She said quietly, causing Garcia to gasp. She hadn't been told about that possibility.

"Oh my goodness, J.J" Garcia said sadly. J.J felt like bursting into tears on the spot. Her husband could have possibly taken her best friend, and god knows what he would do to her. Will hated Emily, and for what? Because he thought she liked her more than him? Well, now she certainly liked Emily better than her fucker of a husband. But she couldn't let anymore tears fall. She had to be strong. For herself. For the team. And especially for Emily. So the former media liaison steeled her nerves, like she often did when in front of the media, and ignored Garcia's comment.

"Look, guys I appreciate the sympathy, but right now all I care about is finding Emily. Reid, how long would you say we have...before...before she's dead? If Robert took her, I mean." J.J asked, pushing the question out with difficulty.

"Well the other victims died of dehydration, so if he continues to follow his MO, I'd give us anywhere from 48 to 72 hours to find Emily, 72 being extremely high risk. If she were to go that long without water, she would most likely be on the verge of unconsciousness, and experiencing extreme dizzy spells, low blood pressure, rapid heartbeat and breathing, not know where she is or how she got there, and possibly even delirious." Reid explained, effectively stunning the team into a brief moment of silence.

"Well I'm not about to let that happen. We need to treat this like any other abduction case. Garcia, I need you to get online. Dig up everything you can on William LaMontagne and Robert Hastings. Any houses in the area, any dirt on their record. I mean anything. Even if it was for stealing a pack of gum when they were seven years old. Morgan and Rossi, I need you two to get inside their heads. Profile them. Reid, I need you to work on a geographical profile. Figure out where our unsub could have taken her. J.J, the media is going to go crazy with this. I know you are no longer our liaison, but would it be too much trouble for you to whip something up for a conference later this morning? No one knows how to handle the media as well as you do." Hotch ordered, breaking the silence. J.J nodded her head.

"And I'm going to call Strauss in D.C. See if she can't pull some strings and get us a search warrant for Robert Hastings' basement. If what Emily said was true, she might be there. Now, let's find Emily before this son of a bitch kills her." Hotch ordered, striding out of the room to go make his calls. The team hurried about after him, all praying to god that they were going to find Emily in time.

Emily Prentiss backed up against the stone wall when she saw who was standing in front of her. It was that bastard, Robert Hastings.

"What do you want with me Robert?" Emily asked, her voice unwavering, even though she was currently chained to the wall of a serial killer's basement. If Robert was going to kill her, and she prayed her team would find her before that, she wasn't going down without a fight. She wasn't going to let him win that easily, and she sure as hell wasn't going to let the bastard kill her just because she was gay.

"Oh, I believe you know exactly what I want, Emily." He said, walking closer to the woman chained to the floor. Emily fought against the arm restraints, but it was no use. All it did was make her raw wrists hurt even more.

"No. No, I don't know what you want."Emily told him, knowing full well what he wanted with her.

"You're a dyke, aren't you?" he asked harshly, bending down in front of Emily and running a slow hand up her bare stomach, stopping just short of her bra. She tried to fight him, but it was no use. She couldn't move from her spot where she was chained to the floor.

"If you're asking if I'm a lesbian, then, the answer is yes. Yes, I am a lesbian. What's it to you?" Emily said calmly, taking slow deep breaths as Robert began to trail his hand from her waist up to her chest. It made her want to vomit, but she held it back. As his hand made it up to collar bone, it shot up and back handed her across the face incredibly hard. The dark haired woman saw stars for a brief moment.

"You won't talk to me that way, you fucking faggot. You're all the same, all of you. And I'm sick of it." Robert yelled at Emily. He punctuated his sentences with a blow to Emily's abdomen, the third and final punch causing Emily to think he may have just broken a rib.

"Wh...what do you have against lesbians?" Emily asked, egging him on. The pain in her ribs caused her to have to take short and shallow breathes.

"You're all disgusting, worthless pieces of trash who have no consideration for anyone else. I've seen you walking around town, holding hands with your beloved Jennifer. You don't care what anyone else feels about the situation, so long as you're happy. You're just disgusting. They all deserved to die. And so do you." Richard threatened, going over to the cabinet in the corner and pulling out a small, kitchen knife. He walked over to where Emily lay and touched the tip of the sharp knife to the skin her pale, untouched stomach. He slowly dragged it across, effectively leaving a thin, crimson line about 4 inches long. He did it again, this time making a smaller line across the skin of her left breast. The cutting went on for what felt to Emily as an eternity. Her head throbbed, her body ached, her face hurt from where she had been slapped, and the cuts stung in the cold, damp basement air.

He stopped when he heard police sirens outside. "_God damn it." _He thought to himself. They had found him. Quickly, he threw the knife into the dark corner and unchained Emily from the floor.

"Get up, you worthless piece of shit. The cops are here. We need to move." He ordered, kicking Emily in the ribs. She cried out in pain as she shakily stood to her feet. He grabbed hold of her hair and held her head back. Quickly, he held another sweet smelling cloth to her face and the world slowly faded to black once more.

A/N: I know it was short, but I felt bad I hadn't updated in a while. Please review! I start school again tomorrow, so updates may be slow. I hope you liked the chapter. Next chapter I promise will be longer. __


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